A junior for Norths Ipswich in Queensland, Kennedy was signed by the Sydney Roosters and made his National Rugby League debut in 2009.

[7][8] Kennedy captained the 2007 Australian Schoolboys team, with future NRL players such as Daniel Mortimer, Kieran Foran, Jake Friend, Andrew McCullough and Kevin Proctor on an undefeated tour of New Zealand.

[12] He was issued with fresh charges relating to his involvement in the cruel wildlife smuggling syndicate and appeared before a committal hearing in September.

In 2018, Kennedy pleaded guilty to six offences including attempting to export shingleback lizards to Sweden, importing alligator snapping turtles and neotropical stingrays from Thailand, and illegally possessing two pythons at his Sydney home.

In October 2019 Kennedy was jailed for four years for wildlife smuggling after an appeal court ruled a good-behaviour bond wasn't a tough enough penalty.