ONE day Kandy Kennedy hopes to wear green and gold as a member of the Australian women’s rugby league team, but this Sunday she will be thinking blue.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Bathurst rugby league talent has been selected in the NSW Koori side to take on Queensland Murri at Mascot Oval.
Should Kennedy impress in the second row for NSW, she will be in line for selection in the Indigenous All Stars team which will play as a curtain raiser to the NRL All Stars fixture in February.
Kennedy previously played with the NSW Koori outfit two years ago and her mother Kerrie Kennedy said she has worked extremely hard to return to the representative level.
“She has been travelling down to Sydney all year to play with the Redfern All Blacks and she also played with Redfern at the [Koori] Knockout and they won that again this year,” Kerrie Kennedy said.
“From that she was picked in the New South Wales Koori side. She also made the New South Wales training squad for all players.
“While she didn’t quite make that, she’s got the foot in the door now, so hopefully she can go on with it.
“In the next couple of years she’s hoping to make the Australian squad.”
This season for Redfern, Kennedy played both in the centres and the second row.
The talented 20-year-old scored five tries as Redfern made it to the semi-final stage of the Sydney Metropolitan Women’s Rugby League Division 1 competition.
She and her All Blacks team-mates went on to win the women’s crown at the annual Koori Knockout, beating the Red Belly Blacks 24-4 in the decider.
Kennedy had to train for those matches back in Bathurst, not having the advantage of consistently working alongside her team-mates to work on combinations.
But she did have the assistance of her father William ‘Bubba’ Kennedy, a man who played with the Balmain Tigers for three years.
“She has had a lot of support from her Dad, they go to the Believe boot camps together and they train together,” Kerrie Kennedy said.
“There has been a lot of support for her here. The other girls get to train together in Sydney, but she’s really working hard to follow her dream.”
Kennedy’s family will watch on this Sunday as she continues to chase that dream.
