Irish Star May Return To Swans

Sydney Morning Herald

Monday January 19, 2009

Michael Cowley

SYDNEY defender Tadhg Kennelly has not ruled the possibility of Irish teenager Kyle Coney returning to Australia to restart his AFL career.

Coney, who Kennelly rates as "the next big thing" in Gaelic football, spent the first six weeks of the pre-season training with the Swans in Sydney, before returning to Ireland for the Christmas break. But when Kennelly and fellow Irish Swan Brendan Murphy returned at the start of the month, Coney told the club he had changed his mind and wanted to stay at home and return to the Irish game.

"I know what it's like, it's that time of the year, and you're with your family and friends, and I remember when it was hard for me to come back when I was in Kyle's situation quite a few years ago," Kennelly said.

"But we're still trying to get him back out here, it's not clear cut yet that he's not going to come back. He's indicated he's still thinking about it, so we're still working on it.

"I know it's so hard for an 18-year-old to be on the other side of the world for so long and the thing with Kyle, he'd have a lot of people trying to convince him to stay, and do this and do that, because he's probably the best Gaelic football player in Ireland. He was fantastic last year in the under 18s. He's the next big thing, so why wouldn't they try their best to keep him there?

"I haven't spoken with him, I will just leave it to the club. I don't want to sway him either way, and he'll buzz me himself when he's ready. I don't want to step on his toes."

Kennelly, 27, who is in his final season with the Swans, expects further improvement from fellow Irish recruit Murphy. After a season in the seconds, and having bulked up to cope with the physicality of Australian football, Kennelly expects Murphy to break into senior football this year.

"He's put on a lot of weight and muscle, and I think they are trying to slow him down now," Kennelly said. "And he can run, he's flying, even compared to this time last year. He's probably put on 12 or 13 kilos but he's still running similar times. It's going to be exciting for Brendan this year and I'm sure he's going to get a crack at it this year."

© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald

Back to News Index | Back to Home