Martin Kennedy (born 20 February 1989) is an Australian 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 plays as a

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

Background

Kennedy was born in Lismore,

New South Wales, Australia ) , 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 ...

Playing career

A junior for Norths Ipswich in Queensland, Kennedy was signed by the

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...

and made his

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

debut in 2009. He played his 50th NRL match on 1 September 2012.Martin Kennedy
''rugbyleagueproject.org'' In July 2013 he signed a three-year, $1 million contract with the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite com ...

starting in 2014. On 29 October 2014, Kennedy was released from the last two years of his contract to explore other options. A day later on 30 October 2014, Kennedy announced on social media that he was returning to his former club the

for the 2015 and 2016 seasons. In March 2015, Kennedy was issued with an infraction notice for possession and use of banned testosterone-based substances. In January 2016, Kennedy was suspended for two years and nine months for breaching the

's anti-doping policy for: attempted use of selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMS S22) ; attempted use of growth hormone ; attempted use of chorionic gonadotrophin and attempted use of insulin.

Representative career

Kennedy captained the 2007 Australian Schoolboys team, with future NRL players such as

Daniel Mortimer Daniel Mortimer (born 13 June 1989) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played as a or for the Leigh Centurions in the Betfred Championship. He previously played for the Parramatta Eels, Gold Coast Titans, Sy ...

Kieran Foran Kieran Foran (born 13 July 1990) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the Gold Coast Titans in the NRL and New Zealand at international level. Foran previously played for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, ...

Jake Friend Jake Friend (born 1 February 1990) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played as a . He spent his entire first-grade career, spanning 2008 to 2021, with the Sydney Roosters in the NRL; at the time of his retirement, he was the ...

Andrew McCullough Andrew McCullough (born 30 January 1990) is a former Australian professional rugby league footballer who played as a for the Brisbane Broncos, Newcastle Knights, and St. George Illawarra Dragons in the NRL, and has played for Queensland in th ...

and

Kevin Proctor Kevin Proctor (born 28 February 1989) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays as a forward for Wakefield Trinity in the Super League, and the New Zealand Māori and New Zealand at international level. Proctor was a me ...

on an undefeated tour of New Zealand. Kennedy's

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 ...

eligibility was a big talking point after an impressive showing against the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional Rugby league, rugby league football team, based in the Inner West and South West Sydney. They have competed in the National Rugby League since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a j ...

in Round 4 of the 2011 season. After the match Kennedy stated that he "bleeds maroon" and declared himself eligible for Queensland This caused an uproar from

NSWRL The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was ...

officials who believed Kennedy (who was born in Lismore,

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 ...

) was not eligible for Queensland. This was proven not to be the case as Kennedy had moved to Queensland as a 10-year-old and played all his junior footy at Norths Ipswich, represented Queensland Under 17's and attended

Ipswich Grammar School , motto_translation = Work and Honour , address = Darling Street , city = Ipswich , state = Queensland , postcode = 4305 , country = Australia , coordinates = , type = Independent, single-sex, day & b ...

before signing with the

Roosters The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

in 2006 and playing for Matraville High School for one year in 2007. Kennedy was also selected to be a part of the 2011 Emerging Queensland Origin Squad in late December 2010. In 2013 Kennedy was picked as Queensland's 18th man in game two of the series.

Personal life

Kennedy is currently the owner of Snake Ranch, one of the largest

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

breeding facilities in Australia. In March 2017, Kennedy was arrested over involvement in an international wildlife smuggling ring. The Australian Federal Police found large amounts of cash and a number of reptiles at his home in Bondi. He was issued with fresh charges relating to his involvement in the cruel wildlife smuggling syndicate and appeared before a committal hearing in September. In 2018, Kennedy pleaded guilty to six offences including attempting to export shingleback lizards to Sweden, importing alligator snapping turtles and neotropical stingrays from Thailand, and illegally possessing two pythons at his Sydney home. In October 2019 Kennedy was jailed for four years for wildlife smuggling after an appeal court ruled a good-behaviour bond wasn't a tough enough penalty.

References

External links

Sydney Roosters profileNYC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Martin 1989 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian sportspeople in doping cases Brisbane Broncos players Criminals from New South Wales Doping cases in Australian rugby league Doping cases in rugby league Ipswich Jets players Newtown Jets NSW Cup players People educated at Matraville Sports High School Prime Minister's XIII players Rugby league players from Lismore, New South Wales Rugby league props Sydney Roosters players Wyong Roos players