Kennelly warns GAA on Rules poaching

GAA clubs can expect more and more of their brightest young talents to be targeted by Australian Rules clubs, former Kerry footballer turned AFL star Tadhg Kennelly has warned.

Kennelly’s warning comes as Young hurler of the Year Setanta Ó hÁilpín begins preliminary contract negotiations with Carlton today following a five-day trial with the Melbourne club.

Former minor and U21 player Kennelly, who joined the Sydney Swans in 1999, believes the success of the International Rules series may be proving a double-edged sword for GAA authorities.

“I was talking to four of the Sydney Swans players after the International Rules Series and they were very, very impressed by the Irish team,” the 23-year-old said yesterday.

“They said so many of the Irish lads could so easily play this game. So I think that the AFL will certainly be looking closer at Ireland and the young and up-and-coming players. Obviously they will be keener to develop the younger fellows than bringing over the older guys.”

Kennelly confirmed that the 20-year-old Ó hÁilpín has spent the past week with the Melbourne outfit, one of the oldest clubs in Australian Rules.

“He has been invited to train with Carlton which is basically the equivalent of having a trial. A decision will then have to be made in the next two weeks as the club have to finalise their squad for the 2004 season,” Kennelly said yesterday. The deadline for new signings is December 16.

Carlton spokesperson Shane O’Sullivan said that the All Star hurler has made a very positive impression during his training stint. “If he’s willing, we’d be keen to give him a go, but he has to make sure he wants to do it,” he said.

“If he’s happy and we’re happy after the next couple of days, we will offer him a contract.

“He had a training run on Friday with us. He’ll have a couple more runs next week, and then we sit down and have a chat with him to see what he wants to do.

“I suppose he has a lot of things back home to look at and think about. He’s more on holidays than anything, and probably hasn’t got his mind around it yet. He’ll have further runs on Tuesday, and then we will sit down Tuesday night and have a chat with him.

“We were very impressed with him, he was good, very good. He handled it pretty well, though we’ve got hot weather in the 30s right now. As for a contract, we’ll wait and see if he wants to do it. That’s the main thing. It’s up to him what he wants to do.”

Kennelly believes that the Na Piarsaigh youngster, who played for the Cork U21 footballers last year, has the potential to become a huge success in the Australian code.

“He is very talented and if you look at his brothers like Sean Óg it is obvious that they are a superbly athletic family. Age is on his side as well which is vitally important.

“Basically over the next four to six weeks they will look at how he carries himself. His character away from home will be vitally important. They will be looking at how he copes in a different city, 12,000 miles away from Cork.

“Then they will look at how he masters the skills of the game. Obviously he wouldn’t be measured against established players but they will be looking at the progress he can make over two weeks, over four weeks and over six weeks. If he does well in that time span, then they will be thinking of how he can improve over a much longer period of time.”

Local Australian media report that the Cork youngster has made a positive impression during his week long stay. “The club have been very impressed with him and they are making very positive sounds about the fact that he has a future in the club. He met and talked with head coach Denis Pagan at a barbecue held to introduce recruitment players to the club,” according to a report in Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper.

Kennelly is continuing to recuperate from surgery which caused him to miss the International Rules Series in October but expects to be fully fit for the commencement of the 2004 season next March.

Meanwhile, the Connacht Council is expected to investigate an incident in which rival mentors clashed during Sunday’s Connacht club football final between Caltra and Curry at Pearse Stadium.

During the second half of the final which Caltra won by three points, heated exchanges took place between Caltra trainer Frank Doherty and Curry manager Denis Kearney.

“We can’t say that we will be doing anything about it until we get the referee’s report,” said Connacht Council secretary John Prenty. “There was talk about something and if it is included in the report and needs to be investigated, we will look at it.”