Kennelly declares Kingdom career over
Thursday November 19 2009
Tadhg Kennelly returned to Aussie Rules training with Sydney Swans yesterday, indicating that his football career was probably over and he was likely to settle in Australia.
The Kerry All Star flew into the New South Wales capital on Tuesday night and was clearly delighted to be reunited with team-mates for the first time since his departure in January. Kennelly returned home to fulfil his dream of emulating his late father, Tim, and brother, Noel, by winning an All-Ireland.
The 28-year-old revealed that the decision to return Down Under was as difficult as when he first accepted the Swans' offer of a rookie contract 10 years ago, but his "massive loyalty" to the club swung him towards an AFL comeback.
And now, he says, with the All-Ireland carrot no longer distracting him, Kennelly reckons that he can go on to become an even better Australian Rules player than he was when helping the Swans win the Premiership in 2005.
"The club has been an unbelievable support for me and I feel I have a massive loyalty to the club," said the Listowel native yesterday morning.
"I owe them a lot and I feel I'll be a much, much better player personally because I don't have that draw-card of going back any more. There were times when I was going to games here in Australia and I was thinking: 'God, I wish I was going to Croke Park, playing with Kerry.' That weight's well off my shoulders. I feel like I can move on and really express myself as a footballer."
Convincing his mother that he was doing the right thing was not easy, but Kennelly, whose girlfriend lives in Sydney, said that this was a decision he was making about his long-term future.
"It was probably even as tough as when I was 18, coming out here, because I'm not getting any younger, really. I've made my mind up that this is where I'm going to live at 28-years-of-age," he explained.
"There's very little chance that I'm going to go back playing football again and that was very tough for me. This is probably the toughest decision of the lot. For the first time in my life, I've decided what I wanted to do as a person and not worry about everyone else. I decided that this is probably the place for me."
- Daragh O Conchuir
Irish Independent
