A foot race unfolded. Adam Kennedy was third man back.
But there was no way he was going to let himself be beaten to the ball.
The clock had just ticked under five minutes to play in a tense round 17 encounter between the GIANTS and then-reigning premier Richmond at the Sydney Showground Stadium.
The GIANTS were up by six points, but the Tigers were surging forward.
The ball cleared a contest, despite the best efforts of first-year GIANT Sam Taylor to spoil, and bounced into the path of Tigers forwards Jack Riewoldt and Josh Caddy, who were steaming into the forward 50.
But hot on their tail was Kennedy.
It was the 26-year-old’s first AFL match for the season – after a month in the NEAFL – as he worked his way back from a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament injury that had sidelined him for 12 months.
And in one brilliant play, Kennedy showed the world he was back and as quick as ever.
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He put on the afterburners to overtake Riewoldt and Caddy, and dived to bat the ball away.
It found its way first to Tim Taranto, then to Heath Shaw, and the GIANTS cleared what had looked certain to be a Richmond goaling opportunity.
“It just got kicked up to a couple of (their) forwards and a couple of our defenders, and it went over the back,” Kennedy toldGIANTS TV. “A few Tigers were pushing through to run into the 50 and I thought I just had to run pretty much as quick as I can.
“I dived at the ball and hit it away – I’d like to say I hit it towards ‘Shawy’, but I was just hitting it as far away from Caddy as possible, and it was lucky enough to end up in Shawy’s hands.”
For Kennedy, it was a big moment in a big match.
Firstly, it denied the Tigers a scoring opportunity.
Secondly, it was redemption after he gave away a free kick inside 50 for a high tackle earlier in the clash – “I wanted to make up for that”.
Thirdly, it was confirmation his body was truly up to the rigours of AFL again after a long injury layoff.
When it was his turn to go, he seized the moment.
“You hear that a little bit, ‘When it’s your turn to go’,” Kennedy said.
“We’ve got a lot of boys who will put their hand up straight away when it’s their turn to go, and I think it was my moment just to put the head down and bump up.
“It was pretty much just a foot race, and I was lucky enough to get to the ball before Caddy and just smack it away.
“‘Joycey’ (head of athletic performance David Joyce) spoke to me after the game and he said, after all the work I put in, he looked at that moment and he was really proud and could see after a hard 12 months, I could have a moment in a big game and have it come off our way.”
It was a huge moment for Kennedy, but also for the GIANTS and their season.
They held on against the fourth-quarter specialists to win by two points, launching them back into the top eight – a foothold they did not relinquish for the remainder of the season.
“It went right down to the wire,” Kennedy said of the round 17 victory. “There were a few nervous supporters, I think.
“(Coach) Leon (Cameron) was sitting down with us on the bench, and I think everyone was just holding their breath.
“When that final siren went, we were all absolutely stoked.”
This is the final instalment in A Season Defined – a nine-part series that has been released over the past few weeks, taking a look back at some of the key moments from the GIANTS’ rollercoaster 2018 season.
