Kelly aiming to make jinxed jersey his own Parramatta's Luke Kelly is tackled by Brisbane's Matt Gillett. LUKE Kelly admits he brings no great moniker in his kitbag like "The Aboriginal Alfie." "No, not coming from the Northern Territory," the new Parramatta halfback laughs. All the great footballers up there are AFL players ... except for Frankie Stokes. Despite boasting just 20 NRL games, 23-year-old Kelly today begins his push to secure what has become the most contentious, and perhaps doomed, rugby league garment of all time - the Eels No.7. Boasting more disillusioned members than a pyramid scheme, the jinxed jersey this week claimed yet another victim when Chris Sandow, he of the "Aboriginal Alfie" moniker and $500,000 salary, was punted to NSW Cup. And so, in comes Kelly. An unassuming Katherine product who, while he may not boast the same profile or paypacket as Sandow, is just as proud of his indigenous heritage. In fact, The Daily Telegraph can reveal the playmaker, who shifted from the Melbourne Storm midway through last season for an opportunity, is currently helping draft an indigenous Reconciliation Action Plan at the Eels. Of the 16 NRL clubs, only Melbourne has one. And Kelly helped draw that one up, too. "The aim is for organisations, in our case the footy club, to recognise indigenous Australians," Kelly says. It can be through the simplest things like starting all meetings with a 'welcome to country', or flying the indigenous flag next to the Australian one at club offices. First year in Melbourne, we wore special socks for Close The Gap round. The following year, the club had special jerseys designed. It's about recognition through actions. Eels CEO Ken Edwards praised Kelly's initiative, saying: "Luke is a proud Aboriginal and a wonderful ambassador not just for this club but his people. Here in western Sydney we have the largest population of indigenous Australians anywhere in the country and our club has a responsibility to engage this community. We look forward to that and Luke, we believe, can offer a huge deal in the development of our reconciliation action plan. With the help of 1983 Dally M rookie David Liddiard, who himself played with the Eels, Kelly is looking to bring more awareness to indigenous issues, starting today when he takes to the field in boots done up with Aboriginal artwork. His other goal: to make that contentious No.7 his own. "I've known Chrissy for a long time so, obviously, being dropped, it was disappointing for him," Kelly says. We first played against each other when we were 12, it was an indigenous tournament and he was representing Queensland and I was playing hooker for the Territory. But this is footy, I guess. I've always considered halfback to be my best position and, while I've played a bit of five-eighth this year, an opportunity has presented itself and now the rest is up to me. I'm signed for one more season. But we've got Corey Norman coming to the club next year and obviously Chris will be fighting hard to come back. So anyone who wants a spot will have to go earn it.