You only need to watch the second quarter of last year's Grand Final to see the influence of Sydney's Josh Kennedy.
The midfield bull was pivotal to keeping his team in the game. His size, power and pace was a deadly combination around the stoppages. He got on the scoreboard too, and had one hand on the Norm Smith Medal by half-time.
Kennedy was originally drafted as a father-son selection by Hawthorn in 2006. The third-generation Hawk, grandson of John Kennedy snr, struggled to break into a star-studded midfield and managed just 13 games in three years.
But a trade to Sydney at the end of 2009 was the turning point for Kennedy.
He's now a premiership player and club captain, and in Thursday night's Grand Final rematch against the Bulldogs he can reach an enviable milestone.
He's currently on 1299 clearances, one short of joining a select bunch.
(Infographic: AFL Media)
Why the mini milestone matters
Only three current players and six players in total sit above Kennedy in total clearances.
Five of the six are Brownlow medallists: Eagles Sam Mitchell (1743) and Matt Priddis (1410) and Suns superstar Gary Ablett (1351); plus retired greats Simon Black (1715) and Chris Judd (1499).
Crow Scott Thompson (1422) is the only non-Brownlow winner in the bunch.
Kennedy is almost a prototype midfielder. He's too big for the quicker onballers, and too fast for players of a similar size.
A regular poller in the vote count, the 28-year-old still has years of AFL ahead of him. If he continues his clearance-winning ways, he could yet finish his career with a Brownlow.
Who's next best?
Former and present club captains dominate the group of current-day clearance kings.
| Player | Club(s) | Career clearances |
|---|---|---|
| Joel Selwood | Geelong | 1279 |
| Andrew Swallow | North Melbourne | 1115 |
| Scott Pendlebury | Collingwood | 1098 |
| Jobe Watson | Essendon | 1086 |
| Matthew Boyd | Western Bulldogs | 1080 |
Fast fact: Carlton's Patrick Cripps is ranked first among current players for average clearances per game. He has 7.06, ahead of Kennedy with 6.73.
One more big carrot for Kennedy
Earn 10 clearances against the Dogs, and Kennedy can also break the AFL record for 10 or more clearances in a game.
The gun midfielder has reached the figure 27 times, sharing the equal all-time record with Priddis and former Blue Brett Ratten.
