West Coast Eagles champion Josh Kennedy was entered into the Mid-West Sports Federation Hall of Fame
By westcoasteagles.com.au
Prior to his illustrious 17-year AFL career, Kennedy began his football journey playing for Northampton in the Great Northern Football League, with former juniors teammate and 2022 Hall of Fame inductee Harry Taylor welcoming him on stage.
The Eagles’ all-time leading goal scorer and 2018 Premiership player achieved two Coleman Medals, three Glendinning-Allan Medals and was named an All-Australian three times over his 271 games for the Club.
Kennedy was humbled with the award, thanking his family and friends for their support along with the Northampton Football Club for his introduction to the game and laying a strong foundation for future success.
“You get up there and you read the names of the people in the hall of fame, it’s quite daunting,” he said.
“I don’t feel like my name should be amongst them but there’s a few crew in there who I looked up to and watched as a young kid coming through, and then to be alongside with Harry Taylor — we grew up through Northampton, played some footy there, we had massive battles on the footy field which were something that I cherish and love about my career.”
His Premiership teammate Luke Shuey sent through a touching video tribute which was played on the evening.
“It was a pleasure to have the number one seat in the house to watch you do your thing,” he said.
“You made us all walk a bit taller every time you ran out next to us. You had an amazing ability to make everyone feel valued and like they had something to give, and not everyone can do that.”
Kennedy’s off-field involvement within the Mid-West community was also praised on the evening, with his continued work with the JK Foundation helping to provide more regional youth with the opportunity to achieve their football dreams.