WHILE his Cronulla Sharks finished on the wrong side of a 28-16 scoreline, William Kennedy still has a reason to remember Saturday's NRL match against Wests Tigers.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It will go down as the game in which Kennedy scored the first try of his NRL career.
It was a proud moment for the 23-year-old as he crossed in the 33rd minute of what was his fifth game at NRL level.
"He deserves that four-pointer. The fullback, it's a great line, straight through the middle of the Wests Tigers," commentator and former Australian representative Braith Anasta said of the effort.
Lining up at fullback for the third time this season, it was not the best of starts for Kennedy.
In the sixth minute as Kennedy leapt off the ground to try and field a Benji Marshall bomb, he knocked on under pressure from the chasing Luke Brooks.
The ball was then spread to Robert Jennings who crossed in the left corner to help the Tigers to a 10-0 lead.
Kennedy had his head in his hands as he watched the replay, but he showed his quality as he was able to put that disappointment behind him.
He came up with a try saver on Jennings in the 18th minute, bundling him into touch as the Tigers winger looked to go over in the corner.
Kennedy also fielded two more bombs under pressure and his back up play was nearly rewarded eight minutes out from the break when gathering a kick put in behind the Tigers line.
While his pass to a support player was knocked on by a rival, a minute later the fullback had one of his career highlights.
Kennedy, on an angled run, hit a Scott Sorensen pass at speed and sliced straight through the Tigers' defence for a four-pointer. It put the Sharks in front for the first time, the conversion making it 16-10.
"Help yourself Will Kennedy ... he's a very good player, I hope he finds his feet in first grade," commentator Andrew Voss said.
While there was speculation that Matt Moylan, who started on the interchange bench in his return from injury, would replace Kennedy prior to half-time that did not eventuate.
Instead he came on for lock Jack Williams.
Kennedy made six runs in the first half, gaining 41 metres of which 29 came from kick returns.
Just two minutes after the restart Kennedy was called into action again, covering a probing Brooks grubber on his own line.
Shortly after he earned praise for catching a swirling torpedo kick, Anasta saying: "Awesome take from Kennedy."
With 20 minutes left the Bathurst talent was involved in a controversial moment which led to the Tigers locking things up at 16-all.
Kennedy looked to have pulled off a one-on-one strip against Marshall, but it was ruled he made the player after the Tigers' five-eighth had been tackled. The resulting shot at penalty goal was a success.
The Tigers went on to score two more tries, winning the match 28-16. The loss was Cronulla's third of the season.
Kennedy finished the match with 63m gained from 10 runs, two tackle breaks and 11 tackles.
