Ben "BK" Kennedy (born 14 March 1974) is an Australian former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A New South Wales

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Oval ...

and Australian international representative forward, he played his club football for the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

(with whom he won the 2001 NRL Premiership) and the

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

Early life

Kennedy was born in

Casino, New South Wales Casino is a town in the Northern Rivers area of New South Wales, Australia, with a population of 10,914 people at the . It lies on the banks of the Richmond River and is situated at the junction of the Bruxner Highway and the Summerland Way. ...

, Australia. Kennedy played First XV rugby at St. Joseph's College, Hunters Hill when he transferred to grade 12 from Casino High School, and was selected in the Australian Schoolboys side. He switched to rugby league, playing for the Casino Cougars.

Playing career

Kennedy started his post-school career playing rugby union for three years with the Manly Marlins in the

Shute Shield The Shute Shield is a semi-professional rugby union competition in Sydney, Australia. It is the premier club competition in New South Wales. The Shute Shield is awarded to the winning team from the Sydney premiership grand final held at the end ...

. His NRL career started with the

in 1996 where he was named the club's Rookie of the Year. He had four seasons with the club though the 1999 season was colored by questions whether he had agreed to terms with the

before the mid season anti-tampering deadline. He was first selected for

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

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

from 2000 and was selected to national honours while playing for the Knights. He debuted for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

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 The 2001 NRL season was the 94th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the fourth run by the National Rugby League. Also called the 2001 Telstra Premiership (due to sponsorship from Telstra Corporation) it was contested b ...

, he went on the 2001 Kangaroo tour. In 2011, 10 years after Newcastle's grand final victory, Kennedy spoke to the media at The Once a Knight reunion lunch recalling his memories of the 2001 final. Kennedy said ‘'They came into the game under a shitload of pressure but for us, it was just a good time and a heap of fun. Parra were shitting themselves and we were having a good time". After missing representative opportunities in 2003 due to injury and surgery. In his final seasons 2005–06 he captained the

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

. He appeared in six out of the seven Australian Test matches in 2005. Along with former club teammate and friend

Andrew Johns Andrew Gary Johns (born 19 May 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in rugby league history. Johns captained the Newcas ...

, Kennedy finished his international career in the 2006 Anzac Test. His final club match was Manly's 2006 Semi Final loss

St George Illawarra The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George, Sydney, St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since NR ...

at Aussie Stadium.

References

External links

Official profile on NRL.com

State of Origin Official website Rugby League Player Stats

2001 Ashes profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Ben 1974 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australia national rugby league team players Canberra Raiders players Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles captains Newcastle Knights players Newcastle Knights captains New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players People educated at St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill Rugby league players from Casino, New South Wales Rugby league second-rows Rugby league locks