Sydney stars hail return of prodigal Swan Tadhg

TADHG KENNELLY’S return to Sydney has been hailed by his team-mates, with co-captain Adam Goodes predicting an important leadership role for the All Star.

Kennelly is expected in Australia tomorrow to join up with pre-season training, although he has missed the initial fortnight of November work. Given Kerry’s involvement into September though, the Listowel native’s conditioning is not a worry for the Swans coaching staff.

“Tadhg is a fantastic inclusion for us,” Goodes said. “It’s not just about his football, but Tadhg as a person. I’m sure he’ll take some sort of leadership role when he gets here because that’s the type of person he is and that’s how much he loves and cares about the club. We’ve lost a few characters last year with Micky O (Michael O’Loughlin), Crouchy (Jared Crouch), Leo Barry and the like, so it’s good to have Tadhg back. It will be good to have him back on deck and he’ll hopefully give us a bit of colour.”

Kennelly brought months of speculation to an end last Thursday when agreeing a two-year deal to resume his Aussie Rules career with the Swans, with whom he won a premiership in 2005. Co-captain Brett Kirk said the 28-year-old’s trademark dash off half back would be a crucial ingredient as the Swans chased a finals berth.

“Having recruited the likes of Rhyce Shaw and Marty Mattner, and with Nick Malceski back there, we’re going to have some great run with bringing Tadhg back into the team. Those guys haven’t played a lot of footy together so we’re really looking forward to having some real rebound, which you need in AFL footy these days.”

Kirk said the whole team had been inspired by Kennelly’s successful return to Ireland in 2009, where he emulated his late father, Tim, and brother Noel by winning an All-Ireland.

“We’re just so proud of what he’s been able to achieve. It’s just a huge effort on his behalf,” said Kirk.

Jude Bolton revealed the players had been pondering the possibility of the Listowel man’s return through the off-season. “We didn’t want to hassle him while he was preparing for the title over there and it was great to see him fulfil his dream. We knew that gave us more hope he might come back.”