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Brett Kenny

King hit

Coach
Messages
13,778
All the best Bert. He was before my time but I love watching all those old games with him and bloody hell he was an amazing player. I watched the 1982 Grand Final last night and not only did he score 2 tries but he laid all the other ones on.

Damn terrible news, one of our greatest ever Eels.

He was the only bloke who got over the top of Wally in Origin that's all you need to know about him as a footy player.


And most of his blow ups in the media about the club ishrough the last couple of decades is through pure frustration. Can't say i blame him.

Hopefully he can beat this prick of a disease.

All the best Bert.

I remember bringing this up at the Broncos club a year or so ago saying that Kenny beat Wally 8/11 times at five eighth and that he won 3 straight premierships, scored 2 tries in 3 straight grand finals etc. The Queenslanders verbally abused me for it in reply.
 

hineyrulz

Post Whore
Messages
148,741
All the best Bert. He was before my time but I love watching all those old games with him and bloody hell he was an amazing player. I watched the 1982 Grand Final last night and not only did he score 2 tries but he laid all the other ones on.



I remember bringing this up at the Broncos club a year or so ago saying that Kenny beat Wally 8/11 times at five eighth and that he won 3 straight premierships, scored 2 tries in 3 straight grand finals etc. The Queenslanders verbally abused me for it in reply.
You were lucky to get out alive.

Cornfed yokels.
 

King hit

Coach
Messages
13,778
You were lucky to get out alive.

Cornfed yokels.

It's crazy how much some of those old rednecks worship Lewis. He could burn down their house but they will still love him for it. Any criticism of him in anyway and they froth, go berserk and treat you as an outcast. When I wasn't criticizing him in anyway when i said this, I just simply said Kenny is easily in the same league as him.
 

Incorrect

Coach
Messages
11,828
I remember one day when I was riding my bike, I was about 8 or 10, I saw this bloke doing a road run and from about 100 metres away I thought to myself "That looks like Brett Kenny, fat chance but".... and then he ran past me and sure enough it was the great man himself... I was floating with excitement. Turned out he lived only a few streets away from me....

He really was The Natural.... if he was a cricketer he'd be like Mark Waugh, only 10 times more elegant....
 

forward pass

Coach
Messages
10,205
I count myself lucky that I am old enough to have watched his entire career. Probably my all time favourite footballer.

He was unbelievably good. In fact when people in our game talk about past legends - he does not get mentioned nearly enough. He would have come damn close to being an immortal in my opinion.

He used to beat players so easily it was quite amazing. And I have never seen a better interceptor since. Girdler comes close maybe but Bert was incredible at it.

I hope he gets well.
 

emjaycee

Coach
Messages
12,985
It's crazy how much some of those old rednecks worship Lewis. He could burn down their house but they will still love him for it. Any criticism of him in anyway and they froth, go berserk and treat you as an outcast. When I wasn't criticizing him in anyway when i said this, I just simply said Kenny is easily in the same league as him.
Kenny was all class and was in a higher league than Wally.
 

Gronk

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
73,967
Kenny was all class and was in a higher league than Wally.

Wally was more like Cam Smith. Exceptional footy brains which made up for their lack of speed etc.

Brett Kenny (and Steve Rogers) were silky, could step and swerve, had speed, good under the high ball and great defenders. If you had to design a perfect football player from scratch, you would take most of Kenny and a little (mainly tenacity) from Wally or Smith.
 

emjaycee

Coach
Messages
12,985
Wally was more like Cam Smith. Exceptional footy brains which made up for their lack of speed etc.

Brett Kenny (and Steve Rogers) were silky, could step and swerve, had speed, good under the high ball and great defenders. If you had to design a perfect football player from scratch, you would take most of Kenny and a little (mainly tenacity) from Wally or Smith.
Kenny had all the attributes you listed but he also had the best anticipation in the game. This is why he was the intercept king. He had both the speed and the anticipation to read where the ball was going and to be there in advance at any opportunity.
 

goboggo

Juniors
Messages
494
I count myself lucky that I am old enough to have watched his entire career. Probably my all time favourite footballer.

He was unbelievably good. In fact when people in our game talk about past legends - he does not get mentioned nearly enough. He would have come damn close to being an immortal in my opinion.

He used to beat players so easily it was quite amazing. And I have never seen a better interceptor since. Girdler comes close maybe but Bert was incredible at it.

I hope he gets well.
I came here to find out what Bernie's message was about. So sad. Haven't posted here for ages but had to have my say about Bert. Agree with everything in the above post.
Everyone talks about how good he was and yet still he is criminally underrated. He was something else. The Queenslanders knew and they laughed every time we picked him in centres for NSW.

Even in those terrible Eels teams of the early 90s he stood out. Not as quick, not as elusive, but a footballing class that set him apart, still often the best player on the ground with all the youngsters around him doing their best to try to keep up.
Had one last hurrah when we beat a full strength Great Britain side in 92. What a night.
As a teenage boy I cried when he took a lap of honour after his last game. My hero. Get well Bert.


Oh, and still the only autobiography I've read where he spent a couple of paragraphs talking about how he improved his clothes washing and drying tactics between the 82 and 86 Kangaroo tours! haha typical Bert.
 

crocodile

Bench
Messages
3,503
Wally was more like Cam Smith. Exceptional footy brains which made up for their lack of speed etc.

Brett Kenny (and Steve Rogers) were silky, could step and swerve, had speed, good under the high ball and great defenders. If you had to design a perfect football player from scratch, you would take most of Kenny and a little (mainly tenacity) from Wally or Smith.

Often forgotten but Wally had a very good kicking game as well. Kenny never had that. Made up for it in spades elsewhere of course.
 

Incorrect

Coach
Messages
11,828
Enjoyable to watch

How filthy would Sterlo have been missing that tackle on Kenny in the Challenge Cup final? LOL

Conversely - How chuffed would Kenny have been leaving Sterlo in his wake and sending the fullback over!

Some of those tries illustrate that rare ability only Kenny a few other players have, and it's something that Sterlo comments on time to time in commentary on the rare occasion a player pulls it off - the ability to change direction before you acutally catch the ball and wrong foot your oppnent. It's beautiful to watch...
 

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