Josh Kennedy (footballer, born 1987)

Josh Kennedy
Personal information
Full name Joshua J. Kennedy
Date of birth (1987-08-25) 25 August 1987
Place of birth Melbourne
Original team(s) Northampton (GNFL)
Draft No. 4, 2005 National Draft
Height 196 cm (6 ft 5 in)[1]
Weight 103 kg (227 lb)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current club West Coast
Number 17
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2006–2007 Carlton 022 0(11)
2008– West Coast 180 (493)
Total 202 (504)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 20, 2017.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Joshua J. "Josh" Kennedy (born 25 August 1987) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). Previously, he played for the Carlton Football Club where he played twenty-two games in two seasons.

Having originally played with the East Fremantle Football Club in the West Australian Football League (WAFL), he was recruited to Carlton with the fourth pick overall in the 2005 National Draft. Kennedy was traded to West Coast prior to the 2008 season, as part of a deal involving the club's then-captain, Chris Judd. Over the following seasons at West Coast, he established himself as a key forward, first at centre half-forward and later in more of a full-forward role. Kennedy led the club's goalkicking during the 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 seasons, having kicked over 500 goals during his career. He is considered one of the best tall forwards in the competition and was also the league's leading goalkicker in both 2015 and 2016 as well. After Darren Glass retired midway through the 2014 season, Kennedy was named acting co-captain of the club for the remainder of the season, along with four other players.[2]

Early life and junior career

Kennedy was born in Melbourne, and grew up in Canberra, Townsville, and Perth, with his family finally settling in Northampton, a small country town north of Geraldton, Western Australia.[3][4] His parents, Jenny Peterson and Jamie Kennedy, both played basketball professionally, in the Women's National Basketball League and National Basketball League, respectively, having first met as scholarship holders at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).[5] Kennedy played both football and basketball growing up, and represented Western Australia's state under-16 basketball team.[4] He later concentrated on football, playing for Northampton in the Great Northern Football League (GNFL), and often appeared alongside Harry Taylor, another future AFL player.[6] Kennedy played for the state football team at both under 16 and under 18 level, and was named in the under 18 All-Australian team at conclusion of the 2005 AFL Under 18 Championships.[7] He had attended the AIS/AFL Academy in Canberra the previous year, and toured Ireland with an academy side, playing several international rules matches, and thus became the first child of two previous AIS scholarship holders to also attend the institute.[8] With Northampton falling into the recruitment zone of the Perth-based East Fremantle Football Club, Kennedy made his senior West Australian Football League (WAFL) debut during the 2005 season, finishing with six goals from six games.[9] He was selected by Carlton with pick four in the 2005 AFL National Draft, held in November 2005.[10]

Senior career

In 2006, Kennedy showed promises that he could be a future key-position forward, having made his debut in round six. However, he struggled for ground time and form when playing at the AFL level, scoring only 5.4 from his nine games. In Carlton's VFL-affiliate, the Northern Bullants, he found it easier to show his skills with eighteen goals for the season.

In 2007, Kennedy committed to a new 2-year contract with the Carlton Football Club. However, on 11 October, it was announced that he had agreed to instead return to his native state and play for the West Coast Eagles,[11] thus enabling Carlton to secure the services of top midfielder Chris Judd in a trade.

On 26 April 2008, Josh Kennedy, wearing number 17, made his debut for the Eagles.

In Round 9, 2011, Kennedy kicked ten goals against the Western Bulldogs, becoming just the fourth Eagle (after Scott Cummings, Peter Sumich and Mark LeCras) to kick ten goals in a game.[12]

After playing in struggling teams at the start of his career – four of Kennedy's first six seasons resulted in bottom two finishes, including two wooden spoons, one each at Carlton and West Coast respectively, Kennedy made his first finals appearance in 2011. Kennedy won only 14 of the first 67 matches of his career. However his record has since improved; as of the end of 2012, he has won 23 of his last 32 matches to have a career win-draw-loss record of 37-1-61.[13]

In the 2013 AFL season, Kennedy was in front of the Coleman Medal nearly every week. But with the Eagles losing their last three games by an average margin of 71 points and Kennedy being goal-less in each of them, he lost his chance of winning the medal.

On 30 March 2014 Kennedy played his 100th game for the Eagles, kicking four goals and one behind in a 93-point thrashing of Melbourne at the MCG. In Round 8, 2014 Kennedy bagged 11 goals straight in a 111-point win over the Giants. He would then go on to kick bags of 7 and 8 both against the Suns. He finished the year with 61 goals.

On 10 April 2015, Kennedy kicked 10 goals again against Carlton. It was the third time that he brought up the double figures, kicking 6 of his 10 goals in the third quarter. His tenth goal for the night was also his 300th for his career. At the end of the Home and Away season, Kennedy finished with 75 goals and became the second West Coast player to win the Coleman Medal.

On 21 May 2016, after kicking 5 goals in the previous match, Kennedy bagged 7 goals against Port Adelaide to bring his career tally to 400 goals. He went on to secure back to back Coleman medals in the same year, scoring a total of 82 goals.

Statistics

Statistics are correct to the end of the 2016 season.[14]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Season Team # Games G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
Totals Averages (per game)
2006 Carlton 5 9 5 4 36 16 52 32 11 0.6 0.4 4.0 1.8 5.8 3.6 1.2
2007 Carlton 5 13 6 5 57 40 97 50 27 0.5 0.4 4.4 3.1 7.5 3.8 2.1
2008 West Coast 17 7 7 4 55 34 89 46 7 1.0 0.6 7.9 4.9 12.7 6.6 1.0
2009 West Coast 17 16 31 17 150 52 202 110 28 1.9 1.1 9.4 3.3 12.6 6.9 1.8
2010 West Coast 17 22 41 19 199 61 260 130 60 1.9 0.9 9.0 2.8 11.8 5.9 2.7
2011 West Coast 17 23 59 38 208 62 270 144 70 2.6 1.7 9.0 2.7 11.7 6.3 3.0
2012 West Coast 17 9 18 14 58 16 74 43 13 2.0 1.6 6.4 1.8 8.2 4.8 1.4
2013 West Coast 17 21 60 23 210 63 273 143 69 2.9 1.1 10.0 3.0 13.0 6.8 3.3
2014 West Coast 17 20 61 33 175 51 226 114 62 3.1 1.7 8.8 2.6 11.3 5.7 3.1
2015 West Coast 17 25 80 55 241 92 333 168 52 3.2 2.2 9.6 3.7 13.3 6.7 2.1
2016 West Coast 17 23 82 37 229 71 300 148 69 3.6 1.6 9.9 3.0 12.9 6.4 3.1
Career 188 450 249 1618 558 2176 1128 468 2.39 1.33 8.57 2.98 11.55 5.97 2.51

References

  1. 1 2 "Josh Kennedy". West Coast Eagles. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  2. ↑ Alex Malcolm (13 June 2014). Up to five could rotate West Coast captaincy – Australian Football League. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  3. ↑ Craig O'Donoghue (2005). "Moving not so scary for Kennedy" – The West Australian. Published 1 October 2005. Retrieved from Factiva, 5 August 2013.
  4. 1 2 Matt Burgan (2005). "It's AFL, not NBL for Kennedy" – Australian Football League. Published 29 September 2005. Retrieved from One Eyed Richmond, 4 August 2013.
  5. ↑ Courtney Walsh (2007). "Eagles land a reluctant catch" – The Australian. Published 12 October 2007. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  6. ↑ Mark Duffield (2011). When Harry met Josh in Northampton – The West Australian. Published 8 July 2011. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  7. ↑ Kevin Sheehan (2005). NAB AFL U18 Championships: All Australians – Australian Football League. Published 4 July 2005. Retrieved from AFL Tasmania, 4 August 2013.
  8. ↑ Ray Wilson (2008). "Jumping Josh son of a gun" – The West Australian. Published 2 May 2008. Retrieved from Factiva, 5 August 2013.
  9. ↑ Joshua KENNEDY (East Fremantle) – West Australian Football League. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  10. ↑ Joshua Kennedy – Footywire AFL Statistics. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  11. ↑ "Judd deal completed". AAP. 11 October 2007.
  12. ↑ Schmook, Nathan. "Kennedy soars". Retrieved 23 May 2011.
  13. ↑ AFL Tables - Josh Kennedy - Statistics
  14. ↑ "Josh Kennedy". AFL Tables. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
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