As an homage to Kennedy here is a list of other occasions when the fans didn't see a big bag coming.
1. John Coleman - Essendon. 12 goals v Hawthorn, round 1, 1949
The champion full-forward from Hastings in country Victoria had kicked swags of goals in local football but no-one could have imagined he would start his VFL/AFL career so brilliantly. Coleman kicked 12 goals on debut, and while he would go on to become one of the greatest players the game has seen, and kick 10 goals or more in a match on 11 other occasions, it was his first game that will never be forgotten.
2. Greg Kennedy - Carlton. 12 goals v Hawthorn, round 21, 1972
Kennedy had come from Eaglehawk near Bendigo to play with the Blues in 1972 and performed admirably in his first season kicking 76 goals from full-forward. It wasn't as much the feat of kicking 12 goals in a game that was the surprise, however, it was that despite how well Kennedy had played just two weeks out from the finals, by the time the Blues made the Grand Final that same year he was out of the team.
3. Mark LeCras - West Coast Eagles. 12 goals v Essendon, round 19, 2010
Prior to his brilliant 12-goal haul against the Bombers last year, LeCras was thought of as a dangerous, if not brilliant, medium-sized forward. All that changed one night at Etihad Stadium when the Eagles sharpshooter single-handedly defeated the Dons off his own boot with a devastating night's work. His 12 goals came from a combination of set-shots and snaps, with the common theme being that he kicked accurately from all angles.
4. Harold Robertson - South Melbourne. 14 goals v St. Kilda, round 12, 1919
Standing at only 173cm makes Harold Robertson one of the shortest players to ever kick 10 or more goals in a game of League football. Playing mainly off a half-forward flank he broke the record for most goals in a game in his side's thrashing of the Saints in 1919. Seven of Robertson's 14 goals came as part of a last quarter avalanche in which South Melbourne slammed on an incredible 18 goals.
5. Alan Rait - Footscray. 10 goals v Carlton, round 8, 1933
Tasmanian recruit Alan Rait may have played only 19 games in a two-year stint with Footscray but one of those games saw him bag 10 goals in a match against Carlton in 1933. The match was played at Princes Park and turned out to be a shootout between the Bulldogs' Rait and Carlton's champion full-forward Harry ‘Soapy' Vallence. Rait won the battle of the spearheads, bagging 10 goals, but it was Vallence who had the last laugh with his nine-goal return helping Carlton to a 23-point win.
6. Mark Jackson - St. Kilda. 10 goals v Sydney, round 9, 1983
The clown prince of full-forwards, known to all and sundry simply as ‘Jacko', was recruited by the Saints in 1983. He only managed 10 games for St Kilda before being dumped by coach Tony Jewell who didn't want the flamboyant Jackson to hold back the progress of a youngster by the name of Tony Lockett. Given the unsuccessful nature of his short time at St. Kilda it would surprise many that he actually had a great game for the Saints in which he kicked 10 goals.
7. Stephen Silvagni - Carlton. 10 goals v Fitzroy, round 16, 1993
Carlton had had more unusual hauls of 10 or more goals in a game by an individual than any other club. Paul Schmidt, Jim Baird and Noel O'Brien all managed the feat but are unknown to most football fans today. Stephen Silvagni is far more familiar but most know him as one of the greatest full-backs of all time and not as the pinch-hitting forward who bagged 10 against the Lions back in 1993.
8. Jim McShane - Geelong, 11 goals v St. Kilda, round 17, 1899
By virtue of the fact that no player had managed a double-figure haul in a game of VFL/AFL game previously, Jim McShane's 11 goals against St Kilda in 1899 must have come as a surprise. What wasn't so hard to guess was that the Saints would be thrashed by the home team. The visitors hadn't won a game of football in the three seasons since the VFL was formed in 1897. It was easy pickings for the Pivotonians that day as they pounded the Saints, who scored only a single behind for the match, to the tune of 161 points. McShane was the main beneficiary of St. Kilda's ineptitude, and whilst he wasn't a noted goalkicker, helped himself to 11 goals that day.
9. Garry Lyon - Melbourne, 10 goals v Hawthorn, semi-final, 1994
A bag of 10 or more goals in a finals game is rare and when the feat is performed by a player who is not recognised as a full-forward it is even rarer. Garry Lyon took apart the Footscray defence with a brilliant individual display in the 1994 first semi-final. Sadly, persistent back injuries meant that it would be the only time he would reach double figures in a VFL/AFL match.
10. Kerry Good - North Melbourne, 10 goals v Melbourne, round 20, 1981
Mention the name Kerry Good and most fans immediately think of the after-the-siren mark and goal that sunk Collingwood in the 1980 night Grand Final. Less well known is the day he put Melbourne to the sword at Arden Street in 1981. North won the game easily on a day that Good lived up to his name (and then some) with a 10-goal return.
Mark Fine presents the evening show on SEN 1116.
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