West Coast great Josh Kennedy turned down an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of former teammate Will Schofield and make a return to the club.
Amid an ongoing injury crisis at AFL and WAFL level, Schofield suited up for the WAFL Eagles on two occasions last month to provide leadership and stability to the ravaged club.
Now, Kennedy has revealed he was offered the same chance.
The 35-year-old told SEN WA Breakfast two weeks ago that he would return to the club if it was in “dire straits” as a personal favour to Adam Simpson.
Following those comments, WAFL Eagles coach Rob Wiley called the three-time best and fairest winner.
“He did call me after that article was written,” Kennedy admitted.
“He was ringing because he was reading an article and he was kind of joking but also semi-serious, but he did ask me to see if I could pull on the boots.”
Kennedy categorically ruled out the possibility.
“I missed the call first, I saw it was from Rob so I wrote back and said, ‘delete my number Rob, never call me again’!” he joked.
“I’m pretty sure there’s some pretty good country amateur footy players they could pick from who would do a much better job than me.”
Kennedy spent much of his last few seasons at AFL level struggling to train and explained that he was still battling his body almost a year on from retiring.
“I am definitely not (playing in the WAFL),” he stated.
“I can’t even get through training at the moment for Northampton. There’s no chance I can get through a game at WAFL level.”
Kennedy won West Coast’s goal kicking on eight occasions, including his final season in 2022 when retiring in Round 21.
The WAFL Eagles haven’t gotten within 97 points of their last four opponents. and Simpson had no more than 27 players to pick from in selecting West Coast’s side to play Gold Coast on Friday night.