John Kennedy: The man who turned the Hawks into winners
John Kennedy, the man who taught the Hawks to win, has been elevated to Legend status in the Australian Football Hall of Fame.
John Kennedy was always well equipped for the wintry weather in Melbourne that greeted his elevation as the latest Legend in the Australian Football Hall of Fame on Monday night.
An inaugural inductee in 1996, the 91-year-old enjoyed outstanding success as a player before coaching his beloved Hawthorn to their first ever premiership in 1961.
As Kennedy exhorted his “commandos” on to great things on the field, he was protected from the elements by a battered brown overcoat.
A statue of the Legend, the father of decorated Hawks player John Kennedy Jr and grandfather of Sydney skipper Josh Kennedy, overlooking the club’s Waverley Park home features the famous coach in the coat.
The plaque underneath the statue of the three-time premiership coach, which was unveiled on his 80th birthday, accurately portrays the values that drove the master coach.
Kennedy prized players who represented the Hawks with discipline, integrity and a will to win at all costs. Revered at Hawthorn for turning the club from VFL easybeats to a modern-day power, Kennedy delivered his teachings with passion.
The most famous of his exhortations occurred in a game the Hawks actually lost, with Kennedy’s stirring halftime address not enough to prevent the Kangaroos from claiming their first premiership in 1975. “At least DO SOMETHING. Do. Don’t think. Don’t hope. Do! At least you can come off and say, ‘I did this. I shepherded. I played on. At least I did something’.”
The coronavirus crisis led to the cancellation of the annual ceremony to welcome new Hall of Fame inductees this year.
Instead the 2020 inductees, including St Kilda champion Lenny Hayes, will be unveiled over the next three nights with tribute shows on Fox Footy and then recognised in person at next year’s official function.
Kennedy, a four-time best-and-fairest who captained the Hawks between 1955 and 1959, was informed of the honour at his home in Hawthorn by league chief executive Gillon McLachlan in March.
AFL Commission chairman Richard Goyder praised his six-decade long contribution to Australian football, which also included a stint as North Melbourne coach between 1985 and 1989. “Our game has not seen any event in our history that has forced us from our ovals and fields for this length of time, and the current temporary absence of football has reminded us of why we love Australian football and we are desperate for its return,” Goyder said.
“This time has also reminded us of those players, great moments and unforgettable matches that first drew us as fans to the game, the heroes who captured our imagination and the great teams and players to whom we tied our allegiances for life.”
David Parkin, who captained Hawthorn’s 1971 premiership under Kennedy and later inherited the senior role from him in 1977, paid tribute to his mentor as the most important influence in his life outside his parents.
“John is a modest man of great character, who has positively enhanced the lives of thousands who have been lucky enough to cross his path,” Parkin said.
“His most famous quote of ‘Don’t think, do’, probably best sums up the man. He commanded respect, taught us how to overcome the fear of failure and asked nothing of us that he wouldn’t do himself.”
Hayes, who played 297 games for St Kilda after growing up in Sydney, exemplified the attributes Kennedy praised in players.
The 40-year-old earned a Norm Smith Medal in the drawn grand final against Collingwood in 2010 and earned four All Australian nominations during a decorated career.
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