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Live sport this Sunday on SN“It’s your spot”: How Kennedy was convinced to leave Hawks for Swans
SEN • July 20th, 2025 5:30 pm
The Kennedy name is perhaps the biggest in the history of the Hawthorn Football Club.
The family legacy in the brown and gold began with John Kennedy Sr, who played 164 games and coached 299 times, including the club’s inaugural 1961 premiership.
His son John Kennedy Jr went on to play 241 games for the club, winning four flags in the 1980s.
Then the third-generation Kennedy, Josh, turned out to perhaps be the best player of the lot… although his success didn’t come with the Hawks.
While Josh was originally drafted to the Hawks via the father-son rule, he’d only play 13 games in brown and gold from 2007 to 2009.
He left the club ahead of the 2010 season due to an offer from Sydney at the end of that ’09 season that was simply too good to refuse.
“I was able to play the last nine games (of 2009) and took a lot of confidence from that, which was great. It wasn’t until after that when I started to hear of the Swans’ interest,” Kennedy told This is Your Journey – thanks to Tobin Brothers.
“They (Sydney) came over to my house in Melbourne, and Roosy said, ‘This is where we sit as a team, these are the guys who are coming towards the end, and we think you’re going to fill this spot'.
“He effectively said, ‘We’ll give you an opportunity and we’ll play you, it’ll be your spot to lose’.
“I get a lot of sh— from my ex-Swans teammates about that. Not many people get that, ‘It’s your spot to lose’.”
That three-year offer from then coach Paul Roos clearly paid off as future captain Kennedy would go on to feature 277 times for the Swans, winning a premiership, three All-Australian blazers and three best and fairests.
While he knew it was the right call at the time, Kennedy admitted it was hard to break the news to his family and Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson.
“For me, that was all I needed to hear in terms of the opportunity,” Kennedy said.
“I thought, ‘Wow, they see my strengths and what I can do’. That was backed up by a three-year contract from the Swans.
“Then I reached out to Clarko and wanted to get his feel on it, but it still wasn’t an easy decision.
“So, I went over to Clarko’s house and laid it out on the table and he told me what I already thought at Hawthorn that I was on the fringe. That was backed up by a one-year offer from Hawthorn.
“I appreciate his honesty at that time, it would have been easy to lead me down the garden path.”
Listen to Kennedy’s full chat with Sam Edmund here.
