”I want to do Dad proud”

By STEVE BARRETT

When Jacob Kennerley closes his eyes, he can see his younger self playing kick-to-kick with his dad Brock like they used to on the family farm in Cummins, on the Eyre Peninsula.

Brock, a talented country footballer in his day, was also team manager for Jacob’s junior sides at Cummins Ramblers. The sudden death of Brock 14 years ago forced Jacob, then just 10, to grow up quickly.

“I used to kick with my old man a lot and he showed me the ropes,” Kennerley, now Norwood’s captain, reflected. “That’s one of the motivators for me – to do it for him and my family. I want to do dad proud, knowing he is looking down on me.”

Kennerley left home at 15 to board, study and play football at Rostrevor College, before honing his craft at under-age level for the Redlegs and rejoicing as a member of SA’s victorious under-18 outfit which won the 2018 national championships. “We were a very stacked team and had a pretty big draft class,” Kennerley said of that Croweaters outfit, headlined by future AFL stars Connor Rozee and Izak Rankine. “Playing around so many good players in my role as a winger definitely helped me get drafted.”

Selected 50th by Geelong, Kennerley still recalls his first AFL pre-season training session at Deakin University’s Geelong campus. “We were told to break into pairs and have some warm-up kicks,” he said. “It just so happened Gary Ablett was right next to me, so I had a kick-to-kick with him.”

Being able to call superstars like Ablett, Patrick Dangerfield, Joel Selwood and Tom Hawkins peers was a surreal experience for Kennerley but he never got a look in at senior level in 2019 or 2020, given the depth of talent and experience the Cats boasted. “They were great players and it was a successful club but on the other hand it was pretty hard to get a game,” said Kennerley, a Crows die-hard growing up. “Whether it helped my long-term AFL career, probably not, but I definitely look back at it with fond memories. I’m pretty happy with the time I had there and where I’m at now.”

Kennerley rejoined Norwood in November 2020, a fortnight after the club signed Jade Rawlings as coach. Exclusively an outside wingman in juniors and as a Cat, Kennerley has since demonstrated tremendous versatility, switching regularly between gut-running wing, goal-pinching half-forward and tough-tackling inside midfielder. The 24-year-old has also demonstrated a knack and appetite for leadership, advancing from vice-captain in 2022, to co-captain in ’23, to outright skipper this year following Matt Nunn’s off-season retirement.

“It was a no-brainer to come back to Norwood and I’ve loved my time here ever since,” said Kennerley, who is studying a project management university degree, while working in that field in the city. “I’m super appreciative of the role I’m in and honoured to pull on the Norwood guernsey every week.”

Kennerley will go down in Redlegs folklore for selflessly laying a vital block on North Adelaide’s Cameron Craig that allowed Matthew Panos to famously kick the match-sealing goal in the epic 2022 grand final. “I remember it pretty clearly,” Kennerley said. “Two stoppages earlier, I saw one of my other team-mates do it. It was pretty good to get ‘Nos’ free in front of goal like that. You couldn’t ask for a better man to have the ball in his hands. It was a pretty special moment I’ll look back on forever.”

The skipper wants to experience more of those moments across several more seasons. “I see myself being at Norwood for quite some time,” said Kennerley, who lives with team-mate Henry Nelligan and two others in a sharehouse at Kensington. “I’m driven to be the best player I can be and get the most out of the football team while I’m here. I want to look back on my footy career and have no regrets.”