J. KENNEDY has been a famous name in football for many decades.

The original J. Kennedy was the grandfather John - Hawthorn club champion four times, captain from 1955 to 1959, then premiership coach in 1961, 1971 and 1976.

His son John Junior was an important part of the great Hawthorn premiership teams of 1983, 1986, 1988 and 1989.

The next generation Kennedy - John Junior's son Josh - was recruited by the Swans last summer after 13 games with the Hawks.

After a standout performance when the Swans sneaked home in their elimination final against Carlton, it would appear that the youngest J. Kennedy is going to enhance the family name even further.

Playing your best-ever game in a cutthroat final is great for a player's reputation, and even more, his own confidence.

Young Josh is best described as an inside midfielder, whose ability to be strong in the packs and extricate the ball at stoppages will be his primary role.

With captain Brett Kirk about to retire, Kennedy was given the job on Carlton winger Kade Simpson and it was his ball-winning in close that was the Swans' main driver around the packs.

His clearance work was critical in the Sydney Swans establishing a four-goal half-time lead.

Then Carlton captain Chris Judd produced a brilliant third quarter that helped turn the game back in the Blues' favour. After looking beaten, the Swans regrouped and regained the lead.

An important factor was Kennedy's work on Judd late in the game. Kennedy is a big midfielder and he used his bulk and strength to lean into Judd and simply prevent the Blues' match-winner from getting any room to move.

The Swans have a terrific record for recruiting players from other clubs who become better in the Swans jumper, and the third-generation J. Kennedy looks like adding to this growing list.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.