Career
Kennedy played Global Positioning System 1st 15 rugby union at Saint Joseph"s College, Hunters Hill when he transferred to grade 12 from another school, and was selected in the Australian Schoolboys side. He switched to rugby league, playing for the Casino Cougars. He had four seasons with the club though the 1999 season was coloured by questions whether he had agreed to terms with the Newcastle Knights before the mid season anti-tampering deadline.
He was first selected for New South Wales in 1999 and went on to play 13 State of Origins.
In 1999, Kennedy and Brandon Pearson were sent home from training after being involved in a drinking session. There were claims that the pair had taken drugs, and Pearson confessed to taking an illicit substance, but Kennedy claimed to have spat the tablet out.
Subsequent drug tests for both returned negative. Kennedy saw premiership victory during his five-year stint with the Newcastle Knights from 2000 and was selected to national honours while playing for the Knights.
He debuted for Australia in 2000 when the Kangaroos played Fiji in the World Cup tournament.
Kennedy scored a try in Newcastle"s 2001 NRL Grand Final victory. At the end of the 2001 NRL season, he went on the 2001 Kangaroo tour. After missing representative opportunities in 2003 due to injury and surgery, Kennedy seemed determined to make the most of all further chances and grew in stature as an on-field leader.
In his final seasons 2005-2006 he was an inspirational leader in captaining the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.
He appeared in six out of the seven Australian Test matches in 2005. His final club match was Manly"s 2006 Semi Final loss Street George Illawarra at Aussie Stadium.