2017 Player Reviews: # 35 Ben Kennedy

[Demonland 74,394]

NOT QUITE THERE

There were times during the year when he dominated at VFL level and came close to selection for Melbourne but he never quite got there. The drinking indiscretion after the Box Hill game came at the worst time as he must have been close at that stage of the season.

Date of Birth: 3 March, 1994

Height: 175cm

Weight: 78kg

Games MFC 2017: 0

Career Total: 40

Goals MFC 2017: 0

Career Total: 28

CDFC Games 2017: 18

CDFC Goals 2017: 13

[old dee 24,082]

Was never good enough for AFL.

[whatwhat say what 23,849]

so disappointed in kennedy never coming on

i thought his under /16 and under /18 years were absolutely superb - he looked so quick, was dynamic around the goals, loved to tackle, and did lots of things that were terrifically exciting

at early stages 2016 i thought he looked okay at afl level, but then he fell of a cliff; just completely disappeared from being close to afl selection and his skills just never got better - his ability to turn it over was pretty incredible, unfortunately

[poita 3,944]

When you are 175cm tall you need to have something special - speed, pressure, goal sense, skills, ball winning ability, etc.

Kennedy was just average across the board and hence I'm assuming his delisting was a pretty easy decision for the club to make. 

[old dee 24,082]

4 minutes ago, poita said:

When you are 175cm tall you need to have something special - speed, pressure, goal sense, skills, ball winning ability, etc.

Kennedy was just average across the board and hence I'm assuming his delisting was a pretty easy decision for the club to make. 

Agree with every word of that poita.

[Demon Jack 7,194]

What went wrong here?

Kennedy was most likely leading our best and fairest after the first 4-5 rounds of 2016 and was looking like a genuinely good pick-up. Nothing quite happened for him after that. He looked OK in the VFL this year and was probably deserving of a chance in the seniors at some point. I 'm guessing that the likes of ANB and at times JKH overtook him and filled the role he would've provided in the team.

 

 

[Adzman 2,154]

Goody didn't rate him, the rest is history. I think Goodwin is the kind of coach that doesn't hand out second chance cards too often.

[M_9 2,216]

On 10/11/2017 at 6:43 AM, Adzman said:

Goody didn't rate him, the rest is history. I think Goodwin is the kind of coach that doesn't hand out second chance cards too often.

Next up we have JKH singing "What about me?"

[Cranky Franky 2,270]

Was poorly treated by the selectors.  They seemed to have ruled a line through him early on just like Dunn in 2016.

He has his faults but was overlooked again & again despite good form at Casey. 

[Siren 156]

Interesting read on Ben and some of the mental issues he faced as an AFL player.

http://www.aflplayers.com.au/article/players-voice-ben-kennedy/

[Melb-A-Toast 257]

1 hour ago, Siren said:

Interesting read on Ben and some of the mental issues he faced as an AFL player.

http://www.aflplayers.com.au/article/players-voice-ben-kennedy/

thanks Siren, that is a great personal perspective that many footballers ( and elsewhere) will go through. A well written piece by Ben.

[praha 11,267]

On 12/10/2017 at 3:02 PM, M_9 said:

Next up we have JKH singing "What about me?"

jkh brings pressure which goody is big on.

[dieter 3,325]

16 hours ago, Melb-A-Toast said:

thanks Siren, that is a great personal perspective that many footballers ( and elsewhere) will go through. A well written piece by Ben.

Good stuff. Good luck to him. I saw him close hand when he played for Casey against Box Hill a couple of times: boy was he committed and keen and vocal.

I respect him a lot.