Kennelly not ready to fly Swans nest just yet

THE chances of Tadhg Kennelly returning to the Kerry colours in the near future all but disappeared yesterday as the Listowel man has commenced talks with the Sydney Swans to extend his contract by up to three years.

Kennelly’s current deal expires at the end of this season and speculation that he would return to Ireland — and to the Kerry set-up — has been rife long before he became the first Irishman to win a Premiership medal with the New South Wales side last September.

When Kennelly first arrived in Sydney his stated ambition was to win that medal before returning home for a crack at winning an All-Ireland.

He stated as recently as last January that there would “always be something missing” until he had a shot at capturing the Sam Maguire.

Kennelly’s father, Tim died last year after which Tadhg was given four week’s compassionate leave and, though speculation about a possible return intensified during that period, Swans chief executive Myles Baron-Hay and coach Paul Roos remained confident their star half-back would remain.

Kennelly is known to love the lifestyle in Australia and the club’s confidence was justified yesterday when it emerged that player and club had begun preliminary discussions towards signing a new deal that would commit Kennelly to the AFL side until the 2008 or 2009 seasons.

“I have had discussions with the club about going forward,” Kennelly’s manager, Michael Quinlan told the Sydney-based Daily Telegraph newspaper. “There are still issues about the salary cap and what it is going to be.

“But we’ve had discussions and we’re looking at going to the next step which would be putting a contract offer in place. We’re looking at a term of two to three years.”

Kennelly missed the opening three rounds of the current AFL season with a shoulder injury but, if anything, that only magnified the importance of the Irishman to the Swans with the champions failing to ignite in his absence.

Though less than 100% fit for his return against Melbourne, Kennelly was in inspirational form in his first game back and again in the win over Geelong last Saturday night.

“He has shown his commitment to the Swans by coming back and playing like he has,” Quinlan said. “We are working towards ensuring Tadhg’s future, both football-wise and off-field.”