Josh Kennedy return: Retired West Coast Eagles great kicks four goals in Geraldton footy return

The stage and the stakes weren’t anywhere near as big, but Josh Kennedy and Mark LeCras shared a footy field for the first time since West Coast’s 2018 grand final victory as they pleased an adoring crowd in Geraldton. The blue and gold was swapped for green and gold as the Eagles greats lined up for Northampton in their Great Northern Football League clash against Towns, in front of about 500 supporters in the mid west. Kennedy booted four goals in his first outing since retiring with 723 majors at AFL level last year, and was pleased to get through injury-free. “It was good to get through unscathed,” he said. “It was a really tough game. They’ve got some good young players. It was actually pretty cool watching them because those kids really stood out today. “They created a lot of stoppages so when you’re sitting in the square, it was a long time before it came inside 50, but all credit to Towns.” Kennedy, who helped raise money for junior fees for GNFL players, said he would look to repay the favour for LeCras at his beloved Cervantes club in the Central Coastal Midlands competition. “It’s the first time since the granny we’ve played together we always talked about and I owe him one at Cervantes now,” Kennedy said. The crowd didn’t have to wait long to see what they had lined up for, as Kennedy clunked a big contested mark to take a set shot in the second term. The stutter step was still there as he kicked truly to get his side on the board, and he had a second minute later as he got rolling. LeCras was happy to play second fiddle as he found Kennedy for his third, while the two-time Coleman medallist produced one final highlight with another huge mark to kick his and deliver the biggest cheer of the day from the Rams faithful and visiting fans. Supporters swamped the field at the final siren after Rams’ 10.10 (70) to 6.2 (38) win, with Kennedy and LeCras signing items and taking photos as Eagle Rock blared. LeCras was happy to turn out and support his great mate, before saying his footy plans for the rest of the year are “to retire”. “JK moved pretty good. I remember being a lot faster a better kick and a better mark and all-round better skills than what I had today,” he said. “But it was good fun to tick off something we’ve spoken about for so long. Country footy’s great, it’s all about the community.”