Matthew Kennedy (born 6 April 1997) is a professional

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er playing for the

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition. Founded in 1864 in Carlton, an inner suburb of Mel ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL). He previously played for the

Greater Western Sydney Giants The Greater Western Sydney Giants (officially the Greater Western Sydney Football Club and colloquially known as the GWS Giants or simply GWS) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Sydney Olympic Park, which represents the ...

from 2016 to 2017. Kennedy is from the small town of

Collingullie, New South Wales History Collingullie () is a village north-west of Wagga Wagga in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The village is located on the Sturt Highway, between Wagga Wagga and Narrandera, at the crossroads with the road to Lockhar ...

. He participated in the

Auskick Auskick is a program designed to teach the basic skills of Australian rules football (AFL) to boys and girls aged between 5 and 12. Auskick is a non-contact variant of the sport. It began in Australia and is now a nationwide non-selective pro ...

program at Collingullie. He and Giants teammate

Harry Perryman Harry Perryman (born 19 December 1998) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL). Early life Perryman was raised in the small Riverina town of Collingu ...

played together for most of their junior career. Perryman was recruited from

Collingullie History Collingullie () is a village north-west of Wagga Wagga in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The village is located on the Sturt Highway, between Wagga Wagga and Narrandera, at the crossroads with the road to Lockhar ...

-Glenfield Park Football Club in the

Riverina Football Netball League The Riverina Football Netball League (RFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing nine clubs based in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The league features three grades in the Australian rules footbal ...

, where he played in consecutive senior premierships in 2014 and 2015. A member of the Giants' academy program, he was drafted by the Giants with the thirteenth selection in the

2015 AFL draft The 2015 Australian Football League draft consisted of the various periods where the 18 clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL) can trade and recruit players following the completion of the 2015 AFL season. Additions to each club's playin ...

, matching a bid from . Kennedy made his debut against the in round 13 of the

2016 AFL season The 2016 AFL season was the 120th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured e ...

. In an impressive performance, he kicked three goals as the Giants defeated Essendon by a 27 points. In October 2017, Kennedy was traded to Carlton. Carlton demoted Kennedy to the rookie at the end of the 2020 season to make salary cap space due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

; but after a successful 2021 season he was re-elevated to the senior list for 2022.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Matthew 1997 births Living people Australian rules footballers from New South Wales Carlton Football Club players Greater Western Sydney Giants players NSW/ACT Rams players Australian Christians