Northampton sons Josh Kennedy and Harry Taylor honoured to be inducted into the WA Football Hall of Fame

Northampton champions Josh Kennedy and Harry Taylor have further cemented their places in WA footy folklore, when the junior teammates turned great mates were both inducted into the Hall of Fame this week. As Kennedy put it, it was a “crazy full circle” moment for him and Taylor — who played under-10s and 12s together for Northampton before becoming AFL rivals over many years — to be welcomed into the Hall of Fame club side-by-side. The pair — nicknamed JK and H — were among seven inductees into the WA Football Hall of Fame on Monday night. Their football journeys have been intertwined from the beginning. Kennedy was drafted first into the AFL, at pick No. 4 in 2005 by Carlton. Taylor joined AFL ranks two years later when he was drafted at pick No. 17 by Geelong. They went on to play against each other over the years. Taylor rated Kennedy as one of his toughest opponents, while Kennedy claimed Taylor won most of their battles. Taylor retired in 2020 after 280 games with two premierships and two All-Australian blazers. Two years later when Kennedy hung up the boots after 293 games, he walked away with one premiership, three All-Australian blazers, 723 career goals and two Coleman medals. “It’s probably only been the last few hours when I’ve really started to understand — two kids, one a bit lanky, one a little bit well built — playing under-10s and 12s together and now getting inducted on the same night, I’m not sure that happens all that often,” Taylor said on stage on Monday night. Both Kennedy and Taylor reflected on their humble beginnings in Northampton. Taylor said the dream as a kid of playing AFL “felt very distant for me”. “I was from a small country town, off a farm, didn’t have a lot of exposure to AFL footy, I think I’d been to two AFL games, live games by the time I turned 18. It was always a dream but it just felt a little bit too far away to be real,” he said. Taylor said he was fortunate enough to arrive at Geelong at the start of a golden era and “was able to ride on the coat tails for a long period of time”, learning from some of the game’s greatest players. Kennedy and Taylor reunited in 2023 to be part of the 19-year drought-breaking premiership for Northampton, clearly holding that achievement with such reverence that would rank up there with any of their AFL accomplishments. The pair have both been inducted into the Mid West Sports Hall of Fame. Kennedy said growing up he was more into basketball, because his parents played the game, and he thanked his friends growing up in Northampton for instilling a love of footy in him. “It’s quite remarkable the amount of footballers that have come out of the town, those guys grew up in that town, you knew them, you saw them and I suppose that hope or that dream you start to think you might be able to make it to that level,” he said. “(Northampton) was built on a lead mine. There’s probably a lot of lead in the water, so we might all be good footballers but there might be some trouble down the track.” Kennedy said the Hall of Fame induction was an honour that he would “cherish forever”, made even more special because of the company he was joining. “It’s something as a kid you don’t really think of, to see the names, to be coached by a lot of them, to watch them play, to have them as your teammates who you’ve always looked up to, it’s a massive honour to be here,” he said. Kennedy also reflected on the ups and downs of his AFL career, from being part of the mega-trade as an 18-year-old that saw Chris Judd join Carlton and him to West Coast, to the “embarrassment” of the 2015 grand final loss against Hawthorn when he did not kick a goal after winning the Coleman that year. “I wanted to stay at Carlton but I also didn’t want to be that kid that stopped the trade going through with the best player in the comp,” he recalled. Taylor also opened up on some of his unique quirks, from his love of history and Cognac, to his long-time habit of journalling. He’s 165 journals in and still does it to this day. During his football career, it was a “normal process” that gave him belief, perspective and fulfilment. Both Kennedy and Taylor took the opportunity to thank their families for their sacrifices to help them achieve at an elite level. The pair was joined by five other 2026 inductees, including Fremantle midfielder David Mundy, Collingwood and Fremantle defender James Clement, West Coast ruckman Nic Naitanui, respected footy journalist Alan East and Sandover medallist Phil Kelly. Dual West Coast premiership star Peter Matera and East Fremantle centreman Ray Sorrell were elevated to legend status.