Josh Kennedy (footballer, born 1987)

Joshua J. "Josh" Kennedy (born 25 August 1987) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). Previously, he played for the Carlton Football Club where he played twenty-two games in two seasons.

Having originally played with the East Fremantle Football Club in the West Australian Football League (WAFL), he was recruited to Carlton with the fourth pick overall in the 2005 National Draft. Kennedy was traded to West Coast prior to the 2008 season, as part of a deal involving the club's then-captain, Chris Judd. Over the following seasons at West Coast, he established himself as a key forward, first at centre half-forward and later in more of a full-forward role. Kennedy led the club's goalkicking during the 2011, 2013 and 2015 seasons, and has kicked over 400 goals during his career. He is considered one of the best tall forwards in the competition, and was the leading goalkicker in the league's 2015 season. After Darren Glass retired midway through the 2014 season, Kennedy was named acting co-captain of the club for the remainder of the season, along with four other players.

Kennedy was born in Melbourne, and grew up in Canberra, Townsville, and Perth, with his family finally settling in Northampton, a small country town north of Geraldton, Western Australia. His parents, Jenny Peterson and Jamie Kennedy, both played basketball professionally, in the Women's National Basketball League and National Basketball League, respectively, having first met as scholarship holders at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS). Kennedy played both football and basketball growing up, and represented Western Australia's state under-16 basketball team. He later concentrated on football, playing for Northampton in the Great Northern Football League (GNFL), and often appeared alongside Harry Taylor, another future AFL player. Kennedy played for the state football team at both under 16 and under 18 level, and was named in the under 18 All-Australian team at conclusion of the 2005 AFL Under 18 Championships. He had attended the AIS/AFL Academy in Canberra the previous year, and toured Ireland with an academy side, playing several international rules matches, and thus became the first child of two previous AIS scholarship holders to also attend the institute. With Northampton falling into the recruitment zone of the Perth-based East Fremantle Football Club, Kennedy made his senior West Australian Football League (WAFL) debut during the 2005 season, finishing with six goals from six games. He was selected by Carlton with pick four in the 2005 AFL National Draft, held in November 2005.