Past Josh P. Kennedy - King Kennedy, the contested possession king

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Josh P Kennedy

Josh Kennedy led the Sydney Swans to back-to-back finals campaigns as the club’s sole skipper in 2017 and 2018, and has since led the team as a co-captain alongside Luke Parker and Dane Rampe. The top-class midfielder has compiled a glowing list of individual achievements since leaving Hawthorn for Sydney ahead of season 2010, collecting a 2012 premiership medal, three All Australian blazers and three Club Champion awards. Kennedy is instrumental to the Swans’ host of young midfielders learning their craft at the top level, including Oliver Florent, James Bell, James Rowbottom and Dylan Stephens. Draft history: 2006 AFL Draft 3rd round father-son selection (Hawthorn) No. 40 overall; 2009 AFL Draft traded by Hawthorn for No. 39 (Sam Grimley). Previous AFL club: (Hawthorn 2008-09: 13 games, 1 goal).

Josh Kennedy
DOB: 20 June 1988
DEBUT: 2008
DRAFT: #40, 2006 Father Son
RECRUITED FROM: East Sandr (Vic)/Xavier Coll (Vic)/Sandr U18/Hawthorn

www.sydneyswans.com.au

Josh P. Kennedy | AFL

Follow Josh P. Kennedy's progress through AFL
www.sydneyswans.com.au www.sydneyswans.com.au
 
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caesar88 said:
It pissed me off in that coaches tribute to him the other week on CH7 that they kept referring to him as a "star" and "under-rated" and "hard at it". Just the same old BS clichés you would use if you were celebrating a Liam Shiels, or a Joel Corey or a David Mundy's milestones. No disrespect to those great players, but it's like they're blind to the fact that Kennedy is a genuine great of this competition, not to mention a monolith of our club, and not just a very good player who gave opposition teams headaches.

He's dominated in some of the biggest games over the last decade, been the single most driving force behind a three-time grand final team, and also changed the game by his sheer existence as a 188cm, 95kg midfielder in it.

When you think of the last decade of footy, he's been one of the true titans of this era and his name deserves to be associated from this generation alongside the likes of Buddy, Ablett, Martin, Pendlebury, Hodge, S. Mitchell, Fyfe and Dangerfield (IMO his career is greater than a few of theirs.)

^ The above is the context he deserves to be spoken of in come Thursday night. Not just the one that got away for Hawthorn and became a superstar.
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Those same senitiments robbed Grundy of multiple worthy all-australians too
 

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He played pretty well on return from injury, still a key player, had a solid season around his injury

doesnt seem to get near the goals much anymore

but really hope he has 2 years left to get to 300

been such a star for this club
 
1 more year in the guts. then his last year resting a bit up forward perhaps. hopefully doesn't end his career like ROK but dont think the swans will do that ever again.
 
GoTheSwannies said:
Imo he gets to call time on his career when he's ready... served the club to the highest level...

I hope he has another 2 years in him. I'm confident he does
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If he can’t perform he should know to go hopefully

doubt it comes to that anyway

just been one of the greats of this club imo and probably underrated in the footy world
 
The King! said:
If he can’t perform he should know to go hopefully

doubt it comes to that anyway

just been one of the greats of this club imo and probably underrated in the footy world
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He seems like the type of guy that would make the right call for himself and the club. I wouldn't have any concerns.

He's been immense for the club for such a long period and always performed to the level required no matter how big the moment, and with such consistency.

True legend of the club.
 
SilentHunter_ said:
Commiserations to you mate. You're the heart and soul of this football club atm and one of our all time legends. Hold your head up high. How he isn't Captain is beyond me. Better than McPointy that's for sure in terms of leadership.
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I love Kennedy but looking back "McPointy" was a better captain IMO
 
My favourite player of the last decade. Has all the characteristics you want in a inside midfielder in his prime. Always got the handball out, very hard to tackle effectively, pretty reliable kick, composed, good tackler. Just an absolute star. Be very sad to see him go whenever that is.

Thought he played well in the last couple of games this year, a rest and a good pre season hopefully sets him up for a good year.
 

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I hope if he does slow down dramatically that he can reinvent himself as a forward. Would love to have his experience and class in the side for as long as possible.

Any chance he could play an outside midfield role? Or is speed a prerequisite for an outside mid / winger?
 
I cop plenty of criticism for my view on JPK and will cop more for this post. He has been a great player for the Club for a decade.

IMO he slid in 2019 and further in 2020. It would be great if he had a golden Autumn 2021, but I just cannot see it. Frankly. I am unclear why he is going around again.

Yes he wins contested ball but so he should as he spends a disproportionate amount of time at stoppages. Somewhere no doubt there is an analysis of contested ball v number of contests attended.

He is now treacle slow and is a liability when the ball is in transition. When the Oppo have it, he is too slow to chase. When we have it he slows possession chains and out of ingrained habit goes to the boundary.

I cannot see him resting forward with any success, much though I wish it so.

Age has wearied him and he is arguably the least flexible player on our list. I am very sad he is playing on and I fear he will be less effective than ROK and KJ in their final year.
 
SGBeach said:
He was voted by the coaches as the best Swan v Geelong in the last game.. The game before, he was voted as the 2nd best Swan - 3rd best on the ground v Lions
The coaches know what they're talking about
Still got loads to offer
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I hope so. ROK found it almost impossible to get a game only 18 months after winning the Norm Smith. Mind you, I feel he was sidelined way too early. If he'd played in the 2014 GF he'd have kept the team in it single handedly.
 
Grand Uncle Horace said:
I cop plenty of criticism for my view on JPK and will cop more for this post. He has been a great player for the Club for a decade.

IMO he slid in 2019 and further in 2020. It would be great if he had a golden Autumn 2021, but I just cannot see it. Frankly. I am unclear why he is going around again.

Yes he wins contested ball but so he should as he spends a disproportionate amount of time at stoppages. Somewhere no doubt there is an analysis of contested ball v number of contests attended.

He is now treacle slow and is a liability when the ball is in transition. When the Oppo have it, he is too slow to chase. When we have it he slows possession chains and out of ingrained habit goes to the boundary.

I cannot see him resting forward with any success, much though I wish it so.

Age has wearied him and he is arguably the least flexible player on our list. I am very sad he is playing on and I fear he will be less effective than ROK and KJ in their final year.
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I agree but I hope we are both wrong
 
OK, for a start JPK hardly slid in 2019/2020. He missed 5 games in 2020 and 4 games in 2019. Accounting for the shorter quarters of last year (multiply by 5/4) he still averaged more disposals/game in the last two years than he did in 2018. Again allowing for the short quarters of 2020, his average tackles were at an all time high last year. Sure he's not reaching his absolute peak numbers but no-one in the team is. We've been playing without a full-time ruckman in a young developing team. Everyone plays better in a great team. He was still ranked 2nd and 3rd Swans player in average disposals over 2019 & 2020. He's still makes the most tackles. Kennedy has arguably been overtaken by Parker as our dominant inside mid but that's hardly a slight on Kennedy. Parker's in his prime and is also considered one of the best midfield bulls of the competition.

People were saying Jude Bolton was too slow and should retire. They kept saying it even after he'd already made the transition to an effective small forward. "Too slow" they said, even after he ran down Dangerfied on a wing and had 7 tackles in his last game. "He's an inside mid not a forward", they said, though he kicked 29 goals in his final year. All while playing on a dodgy knee. It's easy to predict an AFL great will retire as they all eventually do, but a player normally knows better than anyone else when they should retire. They don't need fans pushing them out to pasture.

Like Josh, Jude's ability to get his hands on the ball never waned. Throughout his career he remained a prodigious tackler and the forward pressure he brought was immense. Inside mids are the ultimate competitors and the ultimate opportunists. The best are able to will themselves on a contest. They make something happen out of nothing. They throw themselves in and they come out with the ball, at any cost. It's nothing to do with leg speed. It's a mindset as much as a skillset. Leg speed is for wingers and outside mids.

If speed and youth was all it took to be a champion the AFL would be overrun with speedsters in their early 20s. Tenacity is a mindset and skill is learned. A good inside mid has a willingness to dig in and take the blows, fast reflexes, competitiveness and a very high pain threshold. They all matter. Then they learn to read the play, to anticipare others. They hone their techniques, they learn from their opponents and gain more and more experience. Always there's that insatiable desire to win, under any circumstances and at any cost. There's a reason why these guys are leaders of our club.

I have no doubt Kennedy could enjoy a couple of very productive years as a forward. He's one very smart footballer and a fierce competitor. He has the added advantage of being 8cm taller then Jude so he can pop up and take a contested mark. Like Jude, he thrives on pressure and only needs to get a finger on a player to reel them into a bear hug. Barring a career ending injury I can see no reason why Kennedy would consider retiring next year. His transition out of the midfield and into the forward line will likely be a gradual process, to slowly increase the midfield time of one of our emerging players, but it will be successful. We have not seen the back of the beast.
 
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bungee said:
OK, for a start JPK hardly slid in 2019/2020. He missed 5 games in 2020 and 4 games in 2019. Accounting for the shorter quarters of last year (multiply by 5/4) he still averaged more disposals/game in the last two years than he did in 2018. Again allowing for the short quarters of 2020, his average tackles were at an all time high last year. Sure he's not reaching his absolute peak numbers but no-one in the team is. We've been playing without a full-time ruckman in a young developing team. Everyone plays better in a great team. He was still ranked 2nd and 3rd Swans player in average disposals over 2019 & 2020. He's still makes the most tackles. Kennedy has arguably been overtaken by Parker as our dominant inside mid but that's hardly a slight on Kennedy. Parker's in his prime and is also considered one of midfield bulls of the competition.

People were saying Jude Bolton was too slow and should retire. They kept saying it even after he'd already made the transition to an effective small forward. "Too slow" they said, even after he ran down Dangerfied on a wing and had 7 tackles in his last game. "He's an inside mid not a forward", they said, though he kicked 29 goals in his final year. All while playing on a dodgy knee. It's easy to predict an AFL great will retire as they all eventually do, but a player normally knows better than anyone else when they should retire. They don't need fans pushing them out to pasture.

Like Josh, Jude's ability to get his hands on the ball never waned. Throughout his career he remained a prodigious tackler and the forward pressure he brought was immense. Inside mids are the ultimate competitors and the ultimate opportunists. The best are able to will themselves on a contest. They make something happen out of nothing. They throw themselves in and they come out with the ball, at any cost. It's nothing to do with leg speed. It's a mindset as much as a skillset. Leg speed is for wingers and outside mids.

If speed and fitness was all it took to be a champion the AFL would be overrun with speedsters in their early 20s. Tenacity is a mindset and skill is learned. A good inside mid starts out with a willingness to dig in and take the blows, fast reflexes, competitiveness and a very high pain threshold. They all matter. Then they learn to read the play, to anticipare others. They hone their techniques, they learn from their opponents and gain more and more experience. Always there's that insatiable desire to win, under any circumstances and at any cost. There's a reason why these guys are leaders of our club.

I have no doubt Kennedy could enjoy a couple of very productive years as a forward. He's one very smart footballer and a fierce competitor. He has the added advantage of being 8cm taller then Jude so he can pop up and take a contested mark. Like Jude, he thrives on pressure. Barring a career ending injury I can see no reason why Kennedy would consider retiring next year. His transition out of the midfield and into the forward line will likely be a gradual process, to slowly increase the midfield time of one of our emerging players, but it will be successful. We have not seen the back of the beast.
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Well said Bungee.. JPK deserves nothing but respect and admiration from BigFooty.
but, I can see him retiring at the end of the year. I reckon he'll enjoy watching Rowbum or Florent or Warner or Gulden take his spot at stoppages. I reckon he'll respect what his role is and has been in this developing team. I don't see him as a selfish or greedy person, and can see him happily moving his passion from game day to what he's got going on outside of footy.
Whatever happens, I can see him still influencing at the swans in 2022 from on or off the field.
 
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