The 21-year-old has not missed a beat of Carlton’s pre-season to date and is determined to bounce back from a disappointing 2018 season, both individually and as a team.

In his first season at Carlton, Kennedy was restricted to 12 games due to injury as the Blues only won the two games to finish with the wooden spoon.

Kennedy, now fit and firing, is keen to put last year behind him.

“Look, it was a bit disappointing, for a number of reasons,” Kennedy said.

“Obviously we didn’t have the success we wanted to, the team, but also individually, a few injuries, when I first came to the club I had the two shoulders (surgeries) and then round one I had the ankle and it lingered around all year which I found a bit challenging.

“But the body is feeling great now, I’ve done all the pre-season training so far, I’m just excited to sort of make up for last year and have a really good crack this year, stay injury free and have a real good run at it really.”

Kennedy underwent ankle surgery at the end of last season but it was a success and has not stopped him from any training over the pre-season.

“I’m feeling a lot fitter than I was this time last year, that’s for sure,” he said.

“There’s a great excitement among the group and we’re just excited to get started into round one really.”

Kennedy, fresh from his three-week Christmas break, is upbeat about the Blues’ hopes this season.

Carlton brought in experienced players Mitch McGowan, Tomas Bugg, Alex Fasolo, Nic Newman, Will Setterfield and Hugh Goddard, while they welcome number one draft pick, Sam Walsh.

“We’re quite young, it’s just an exciting time and hopefully we think we’ll click, probably sooner rather than later,” Kennedy said.

“We’re keen just to keep training and working hard because we know the future is very bright but it’s not just going to happen, we’re putting the work in now and hopefully we’ll see the reward later on in the year.”

Kennedy stopped short of naming a specific pass mark for the Blues this year.

“We’re not going to put a number on it, it’s probably hard to tell obviously, we’re just looking to improve on last year...we’re working hard to jump up the ladder as quick as we can,” he said.

“I suppose in the last few years, you’ve seen sides haven’t made the eight and then the following year they’ve played in the grand final so it shows how close the competition really is, if you’re willing to do the hard work then there is opportunity there to really jump.”

Carlton play their first pre-season game against Essendon on February 28.

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