RUGBY LEAGUE
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BATHURST talent William Kennedy Junior and his Cronulla team-mates will be attempting to write the final chapter of an SG Ball fairytale this Saturday when they line-up in the grand final of the New South Wales Rugby League competition.
The son of Group 10 legend William ‘Bubba’ Kennedy will pull on the number one jumper for the Sharks as they meet the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Leichhardt Oval in the finale of the under 18s competition.
It is an exciting time for Kennedy, who has just turned 18, as he and his fellow Sharks have come from eighth position on the ladder. If they can trump the Rabbitohs, it would also mark the maiden SG Ball crown for the club.
After playing junior rugby league for both Bathurst Panthers and St Pat’s, Kennedy’s talent took him to Sydney.
He played with the Cronulla Caringbah Sharks and last year was picked in the under 17s Sharks Academy squad.
This year things got even better as Kennedy was included on the Sharks’ SG Ball roster, one which includes Kyle Flanagan, the son of Cronulla’s NRL coach Shane Flanagan.
While Kennedy had played as a five-eighth in Group 10’s junior competitions, he has filled a different role with the Sharks.
“At the start he was always coming off the bench, but then all of a sudden he was their number one. He’d never played fullback before,” Kennedy’s mother Kerrie explained.
“At the start he was coming off the bench as hooker, he’d never played that in his life before either.”
A slow start to what is a short season of eight preliminary rounds saw the Sharks go into their final match of the regular season needing both a win and luck in order to keep their chances alive.
They fulfilled their part of the equation, defeating South Sydney 20-8, then had a nervous wait as their rivals completed their matches.
“They had to win their last game then wait for another team to lose for them to get into that top eight,” Kerrie Kennedy said.
“The grand final is now going to be seven versus eight, so it should be a really good game. They’ve had injuries all through the year but now they’ve come good, we think they are the dark horses.”
With his family and friends making the trip from Bathurst to Sydney each week to watch him in action, Kennedy and his Sharks survived a tense qualifying final against Parramatta 25-24 before winning their semi-final 29-22 over the Canberra Raiders, a team which included Orange’s Ryan Griffin.
In the grand final qualifier last Saturday, Kennedy and his Sharks came up against the Penrith Panthers.
In sloppy, wet conditions, the Bathurst talent managed to give his side the sort of start they had hoped for. The fullback dummied and sliced through the Panthers defence before running 20 metres to score in the 12th minute.
It was his third try of the season for the Sharks, his other two coming against Newcastle in March.
Kennedy’s try gave his side a 4-0 lead and from there they lifted, going on to win 12-0 to set up a grand final against Souths. It will be an exciting weekend for the Sharks given their Harold Matthews Cup side also qualified for their respective decider.
“I think he’s feeling a bit of everything, he’s nervous and he’s excited,” Kerrie Kennedy said.
“We just really want to thank all the Bathurst businesses who have supported him, we really appreciate all the help and sponsorship they gave him.
“We will definitely be there watching, he will have a lot of family and friends there rain, hail or shine. He’s a quite achiever, but he’s on his way now and hopefully he can have a grand final win.”
Saturday’s grand final is set to kick-off at 1pm.
