Sharks in the AFL: Josh Kennedy

Of the 26 East Fremantle district products currently listed at AFL clubs, none had a bigger week in Round 1 than the Eagles' Josh Kennedy.

The 28-year-old booted eight goals against Brisbane showing why he, as the reigning Coleman Medallist, is once again the favourite to repeat this feat in 2016.Kennedy was one of four former Sharks in action for the Eagles while Marco Paparone ran out for the Lions. Jamie Cripps also enjoyed his time up front adding three goals, Elliot Yeo raked up 20 disposals to go with his single major, and Brad Sheppard picked up seven marks and 21 disposals.

For the ex-Sharks still based in Freo, it was a far more sombre week. Jonathon Griffin picked up 14 hit-outs with Aaron Sandilands out through suspension, while Garrick Ibbotsen amassed 90 dream team points, the fourth highest by a Docker in their 65 point loss.

In the eastern states it was Geelong’s Harry Taylor (15 disposals) and North Melbourne’s Andrew Swallow (17 disposals) smiling after helping their sides to crucial round 1 wins.

Carlton’s Patrick Cripps shone in his club's loss to Richmond, kicking a goal to go with his 27 touches while Rhys Palmer picked up 15 disposals in the Giant’s close loss to Melbourne.Collingwood’s Alex Fasolo picked up one of only five majors kicked by the Pies as they were thumped by the Swans, before backing that up with another 6 last night in Collingwood's 1 point win over Richmond. 

Heading into Round 2, the most mouth-watering game comes via heavyweight clash between the Eagles and Hawthorn at the MCG. Josh Kennedy took the time to chat before catching his flight to Melbourne, but he played down any greater meaning to Grand Final rematch.

“I don’t want to sound like a cliché but it is just another game,” said Kennedy.

“Some people may feel that we owe them one back, but this week it’s a totally different situation. The only way we can get them back is if we play them in another grand final and beat them.

“This is just a normal week with four points up for grabs -- we know what we need to do and we’ve got to play at our best to beat them as they’re the best team in the competition at the moment.”

While it was hard to avoid discussion about Sunday’s game, Kennedy was also happy to talk at length about other aspects of his footy, including his development years with the Sharks, and where the explosive forward sees the ever changing style of play in the AFL.

“The talk of [the AFL] being more attacking is pretty cool,” said Kennedy.

“You know the ball’s going to be moving pretty quick and you’re going to have a bit more supply, but I also don’t think the defensive era is over. I think a lot of teams now have to be smarter in the way they go about it. You saw it last week, we let Brisbane score 100 points which is not what you want to do. Teams are going to be playing a lot quicker these days and it’s just making sure we can slow that down and counter it.”

West Coast and Brisbane amassed 41 goals between them in Round 1 with eleven of these coming from Kennedy and Cripps alone. These high scoring affairs can only mean big things for the pair whose roots go all the way back to their home town of Northampton.

“Crippa was a bit younger than me so we never ended up playing any footy together,” said Kennedy.

“His older brother [Ashley] was around my age, so I was around him a bit more, especially playing football.”

While Jamie and cousins Patrick and Jack Cripps have all departed East Fremantle, Ashley is keeping the Cripps connection strong as the club’s Head of Sports Science. Northampton is frequently credited as a hot-bed for producing AFL calibre players, but Kennedy is also proud of Ashley’s contribution to the game.

“Ashley started with the Colts then the state 18s and he’s worked up from there, which is pretty cool to see,” said Kennedy.

“It’s been good to see him grow up and get to where he is now.”

Despite Jamie Cripps being five years his junior, Kennedy still has plenty of memories of their time as a part of the Shark Pack -- a name given to East Fremantle’s development squad in the mid-west region.

“As Jamie came through we used to go to Horrocks (a beach near Northampton) a fair bit so we always used to hang out over the years, school holidays and all that stuff,” said Kennedy.

“The younger ones would hang with the older ones and stuff like that, but it is pretty cool to run out each week now with Crippa, knowing he’s from the same home town, and we grew up together – it is a pretty cool experience week to week knowing that.”

At about 1pm on Sunday at the MCG, Kennedy and Cripps will run out together once again as they look to build on their big start to the season. Stay tuned next week for Part 2 of our interview, as Kennedy discusses his time growing up Northampton and his development with the Shark Pack.