A left-footed small forward/midfielder with explosive pace and great agility, Kennedy was a prolific ball winner at junior levels and regarded as an elite level ball-user. He excelled at stoppages and was extremely dangerous around goal with either set shots or snaps. He made a bright start to his Collingwood career, playing 12 senior games in his first year on the list and averaged 24.4 disposals in his seven games in the VFL. His senior opportunities were a little harder to come by in the years that followed, and he often found himself on the wrong end of the league's short-lived substitute rule. At the end of 2015, he was traded to Melbourne as part of the deal that brought Jeremy Howe to the Magpies.