JAK’S THE LAD FOR HAWKS
“People who know me know that I made a mistake. But I also want to prove to people that don’t know me that I’m a good lad.”
Kennedy-Hunt polled 20 of his 23 votes inside the first 10 rounds, taking a dominant lead early in the count.
Thomson’s Reece Holwell finished second on 20 votes.
There was a lump in Kennedy-Hunt’s throat when he spoke on stage. It was an emotional end to a big night.
An iced water rather than beer or champagne was used to toast the crowd.
“When something good happens, and something rewarding comes my way, I think of my dad and think of my family. And, you know, they’re not here,” KennedyHunt said.
“I’m not going to lie. It’s a very good moment, but at the same time it’s a bit hard.”
Kennedy-Hunt was lured to Inverleigh via mate Billy Nicholls, also a friend of Hawks coach Mark McDowell.
McDowell was aware of Kennedy-Hunt’s history, but that was never a concern.
He also knew of his football talent. A gift that saw him almost listed by Richmond and also enjoy stints at the highest level in South Australia and with Werribee in the VFL.
“My good mate Billy Nicholls said, ‘I’ve got a player I reckon you should try and get out there. He’s a good fella’,” McDowell said.
“First thing you think is ‘we’ll see’, and the first day I met him I knew he was a good fella. He is a testament (to) that we all make mistakes (and can learn from them and get our lives on the right track).
“The boys at Inverleigh love him and I don’t think there’s anyone who’s got a bad word to say about Jak.
“They’re all really supportive of him and he’s been a really positive impact on Inverleigh. That’s been the other win out of it.”
Kennedy-Hunt said the way he was received forced his hand into playing.
“To be honest, I really didn’t have intentions to play,” he said.
“I spoke to ‘Macca’ a few times, got out and physically met Macca, found out how much of a top bloke he is, realised how good a club Inverleigh is, how much support we have out there, and that’s how it happened.”
Did McDowell have any concerns?
“How you meet people, how you find them and how they treat you is how I value the friendship with the person,” he said.
“And from day one when I first met Jak that I could just sense he is a good fella.”
Kennedy-Hunt hit preseason hard, keen to make a good impression.
He bagged eight goals on debut against East Geelong and backed it up with six goals in Round 2 against Thomson.
By the mid-season he was closing on 100 goals and was one of the leading goal kickers in the state.
And then a quad injury flared. Kennedy-Hunt took a week off after kicking four goals against East Geelong at the start of July and returned to kick five against Bannockburn.
He took another week off before declaring himself fit to play against Geelong West. He needed two goals to break the 100 against the Giants and a big crowd turned up to watch.
But that quad injury flared in the warm up and he was advised to pull out. He decided not to let the crowd down and kicked six goals in the first half before sitting out the rest of the match.
Kennedy-Hunt has not played since, instead focusing on getting his quad right for Inverleigh’s finals assault.
“I haven’t witnessed that (hype) from a player for a lot, a lot of years,” McDowell said.
“From a GDFL point of view, the impact of Jak coming into the league has been outstanding really.”
As Kennedy-Hunt walked out of Buckley’s on Wednesday he was not interested in patting himself on the back.
His focus is fully on a premiership medal.
“That’s what we all dream of, isn’t it?” Kennedy-Hunt said of winning a premiership.
“Nothing against a league B&F or anything . . . but every footballer’s goal is a grand final medallion.”