Eagles add Hurn, Kennedy to leadership group

THE WEST Coast Eagles have added defender Shannon Hurn and forward Josh Kennedy to their leadership group for the 2010 season.

Kennedy has only played for the Eagles for two years after moving West as part of the trade that saw Chris Judd move to Carlton.

Hurn showed enormous improvement this year, finishing second in the club’s best and fairest behind captain Darren Glass.

Hurn and Kennedy were recognised by both their teammates and the club's match committee as suitable replacements for the retiring Tyson Stenglein in the leadership group.

Glass has retained the captaincy, with Beau Waters, Dean Cox, Matt Priddis and Adam Selwood rounding out the leadership group.

"The elevation of Shannon and Josh is indicative of their standing within the squad," senior coach John Worsfold said. "As we have done for the last three years, the leadership group was formed around a number of criteria as viewed by the players and the match committee.

"All players are marked in those areas and the highest ranked players then form the leadership group.

"Darren Glass has emerged as an outstanding captain in the last couple of seasons and the other six players offer him valuable support, but we do expect all of our players to be leaders in their own right."