Sydney assistant coach Dean Cox has revealed the reasons behind Josh Kennedy’s surprise move to defence.
Kennedy, a former club captain, has made his name in the midfield as a three-time All Australian, while he also has won three best and fairests in the middle for the Swans.
The 33-year-old is coming off a season averaging 24 disposals and five clearances, however he featured in the back half over the pre-season. He collected 19 disposals and gained 200 metres in the club’s practice game against North Melbourne playing across the half-back.
Despite pushing for a high finish in 2022, Cox suggested the move was to allow the club’s youngsters to take the next step in the middle, while he also added that the move could extend Kennedy’s career.
“Yeah, we want a bit of flexibility in our playing group,” Cox told Sportsday WA.
“I think one thing that Josh has done throughout the pre-season, he doesn’t need to spend any more time as a midfielder.
“He’s been to that many stoppages and understands what’s going on.
“It’s also the development and evolution of some of those young midfielders … Justin McInerney, Chad Warner, James Rowbottom and we want Dylan Stephens to play through there, and Ollie Florent (too).
“You can’t have everyone in there at all times, so the ability to be able to play outside on a wing, or go to halfback or certainly spend some time forward is really important for our dynamic.
“Josh has been really keen to learn as much as he can and hopefully add another string to his bow as well.”
Cox also revealed that the Swans plan to settle Nick Blakey as a defender in 2022.
Originally drafted with pick 10 in the 2018 National Draft as a forward, the 22-year-old has struggled to nail down a role in his time at Sydney.
However, his best footy in 2021 came when he played as a running backman, and the Swans have now confirmed their plans for the talented utility going forward.
“We’ll try to settle him in the back half,” Cox stated.
“He started as a forward, he’s had time on ball, but I think with that size, that speed, athleticism, his ability to be able to impact in the air is really important, but also to give us some bounce out of the back half.
“He’s been playing there probably the back part of last year, we missed him come the finals with his rebounding ability.
“From there, he’ll get the chance to settle back there. He’s done a lot of work with Ben Mathews, our defensive coach, over the summer to really make sure that he’s there to defend first.
“He’s not just there to run the ball out, we want to make sure that he can get his craft done so when he’s required to, he can defend first then give us bounce (out of defence).”
Blakey was a standout in the match against North Melbourne, finishing with 28 disposals and 598 metres.
Both are expected to line up in Sydney’s Round 1 game against the Greater Western Sydney Giants.
Listen to the full interview with Dean Cox below