This Thursday night, Carlton footy player Matthew Kennedy will be lining up in the AFL Round 1 game against Richmond Football Club at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. After coming so close to making the grand final last year, the 26-year-old midfielder is committed to being part of his team’s effort to claim the 2024 premiership flag. And while football is a key priority for Matthew, so too is his commitment to faith and family. He speaks with us about his small-town, Catholic upbringing, the highs and lows of his football career, and Matthew Kennedy the man, who is ‘much more than just a football player’.
Walking out onto the football field in the lead-up to a game, Matthew Kennedy takes a moment to look around, take some deep breaths and absorb the atmosphere. It is a moment where he is consciously grateful for where he is and how far he’s come in his life. He’s living his childhood dream as a professional football player.
He knows he’s undergone the months of training and preparation in the pre-season that will allow him now to focus on the game plan and his role in it—he’s on field to do ‘what’s best for the team’. It’s also a moment when he offers up a silent prayer to God. On his wrist are the words ‘faith, family, footy’. These words, in that order, represent what’s important to Matthew. They keep him grounded and focused on the game, and in his life.
Matthew dreamt of being a professional football player from when he was 12 years old. He grew up in a small country town called Lockhart in New South Wales, and later in San Isidore, another small town just outside Wagga Wagga. He’s child number five to Frank and Vicki Kennedy, and though he now calls Melbourne home, he remains close to his parents and siblings, who’ve remained in New South Wales.
Looking back, I had a really good childhood ... Even though things were probably financially tough for my parents, we never went without, and we always felt so loved.
Growing up, he enjoyed a loving and close-knit family life, where ‘going to Mass every Sunday was the normal thing to do’. His father often reminded him to ‘say your prayers, be good and go to Mass every Sunday’. He spent a lot of time with cousins, having a large extended family, and enjoyed the country lifestyle. ‘We lived on a 20-acre farm, with a big hill, so you could often find us boys zooming down the hill on anything with wheels, while my sister enjoyed being with horses,’ he says.
‘Looking back, I had a really good childhood. Mum and Dad owned a news agency in Lockhart, and all of us grew up in the one room out the back of the shop. That’s probably why we’re all so close! And even though things were probably financially tough for my parents, they worked so hard and always provided for us kids. We never went without, and we always felt so loved.’
Growing up in the country, football always played an important part in Matthew’s life. With the constant support of his parents, who ferried him across the countryside each weekend to play football, he made the under-12 New South Wales state football team. He missed out on making the state side when he was 15 years old, but with encouragement from his parents, he continued playing football at the highest possible level he could each year.
‘I was very competitive, and I just loved the game,’ says Matthew. ‘So, with the support of my parents, and my own love of the game, I kept pushing myself.’
Because I probably wasn’t true to myself and my faith—I wasn’t open about it and honest from the start—I felt like I was living a double life. I was the footy player and just one of the boys during the week, but then on a Sunday I was a practising Catholic.
At 17, Matthew played his first seniors match in the Riverina Country Football League, where he played alongside the best men across the league. It was in this league that he enjoyed two premiership wins with his older brothers, a ‘footy career highlight’ according to Matthew. It was also during this time that he was drafted to the Australian Football League to play for Greater Western Sydney. He was 18 years old.
Matthew played 19 games for Greater Western Sydney between 2016 and 2017. He was then traded to Carlton Football Club and played his first game for the Blues in October 2017. Sporting the number 7 footy jersey, Matthew has a contract with the Blues until 2025.
Thinking he was at the peak of his career, particularly in those early Carlton years, Matthew says it was a time of great personal conflict and challenge. ‘I found it difficult moving to the city, being so young and having been so close to my family,’ he says. ‘It was a big cultural change, and I was anxious a lot of the time.
‘I really struggled because I went from growing up with and going to Mass with my family every week and having a community around me at my local parish, to now being on my own. And because I probably wasn’t true to myself and my faith—I wasn’t open about it and honest from the start—I felt like I was living a double life. I was the footy player and just one of the boys during the week, but then on a Sunday I was a practising Catholic.’
Matthew says he became focused on football and the success of his career, losing sight of the bigger picture. He wasn’t invested in his faith at all. ‘I invested everything into being an AFL player and having professional success,’ he says. ‘I just felt so much pressure all the time that I couldn’t even enjoy the little things. I became very selfish, and that led me to a life where I felt very unhappy and miserable a lot of the time. I had no real purpose in life.’
Footy is just something that I do, but I’m much more than just a footy player. Now I know that my purpose alongside footy is faith and family
Matthew credits his ‘turnaround’—his return to his faith—to when he met the Canavan family in Melbourne, thanks to his cousin Elizabeth, who introduced him to the family. ‘When I had dinner with the family, they just reminded me so much of my own family,’ says Matthew. ‘Despite grieving the death of their eldest daughter Kathleen at the time, they were so welcoming and nice, and I felt at home straight away.’ He continued to meet the Canavans for dinner once a month and started going to Catholic youth group events with his cousin Elizabeth and some of the Canavan children.
Around the same time, he started working with the Carlton Football Club psychologist, Tara, who, Matthew says, ‘was absolutely amazing’.
‘She taught me how to separate Matthew Kennedy the footballer from Matthew Kennedy the person,’ he says. ‘Footy is just something that I do, but I’m much more than just a footy player. Now I know that my purpose alongside footy is faith and family.
‘When my relationship with God is good, I find I’m much happier in life,’ says Matthew. ‘And family wise, I’ve always been lucky with the family I have, but now I’m fortunate to be married to my beautiful wife, Mary-Anne Canavan, who is part of a beautiful family, so that gives me a new sense of purpose. How can I be the best husband I can be? And if we’re blessed to have children one day, God willing, then it’ll be: how can I be the best father I can be?’
It’s quite humbling when you hear stories about people who have come to a talk, or have heard me speak openly about my faith or footy, and draw inspiration from that.
Matthew says being part of a Catholic faith community in Melbourne has also been crucial to maintaining and strengthening his relationship with God. He is part of St Roch’s Catholic Parish in Glen Iris and has struck up a friendship with parish priest Fr Michael Gallagher. Through his relationship with Fr Michael and the Canavans, Matthew has found himself at more and more events, sharing the importance of his faith and family, alongside football, with many others.
‘Giving back is something I’ve realised I’m quite passionate about,’ he says. ‘It’s funny, but when I was a kid, if a footy player said to eat this or train like that, I would have just stopped and done it in a heartbeat because it was my dream. And now that I’m in that position, I just don’t feel like I could have that same impact, but it’s quite humbling when you hear stories about people who have come to a talk, or have heard me speak openly about my faith or footy, and draw inspiration from that. It’s quite humbling.’
I’m just so grateful for all the opportunities and gifts God has blessed me with—for my family, for my faith, for my wife and her family, for my health, and for the ability to play the game I love
When Matthew plays footy now, it’s not just about the joy it brings him. He has a deeper appreciation of the joy it brings those around him, particularly his loved ones—his parents, his siblings and their children, his many uncles and aunts and cousins. ‘I love my job and I love playing footy, but when they come to a game and watch me play, I can see how much joy it brings them,’ he says. ‘And I appreciate all their prayers in the lead-up and during the games too!
‘I’m just so grateful for all the opportunities and gifts God has blessed me with—for my family, for my faith, for my wife and her family, for my health, and for the ability to play the game I love and have dreamt about playing since I was 12 years old. I just feel so blessed and humbled by it all.’
