AFL likely to maintain Irish draft

Tadhg Kennelly believes AFL clubs will continue to look at Ireland as a potential source of recruits, pinpointing Kildare duo Daniel Flynn and Paddy Brophy along with Kerry’s Pádraig Lucey as bright prospects.

Kennelly has just returned to Australia after running the rule over some of the country’s brightest GAA talents.

There had been speculation that Ciarán Kilkenny’s decision to turn his back on the professional code, just weeks after linking up with Hawthorn, might cool interest in Irish players.

The Castleknock teenager’s premature return came just a year after John Heslin called time on his stint with Richmond while still in his first pre-season.

The only GAA recruit to win an AFL premiership — with Sydney, in 2005 — Kennelly is aware of the difficulties surrounding the transition for the Irish.

However, he maintains that skills-wise, young GAA recruits are best equipped to make the crossover and so will always be of interest to Australian clubs.

“I think if we just do it properly (it will be fine),” said Kennelly. “The welfare issue more than anything else, for all international kids, is tough.

“It’s just tweaking a few things. I think the difference between the New Zealand kids and the Irish kids is that the Irish kids are ready to play.

“Within a year of doing some technical work on their kicking ability, everything else is really similar.”

Noting the continued interest in Ireland, recruiters from five clubs attended the training camp at DCU, where the average age of the group was 19.

Kennelly, who is the AFL’s international talent coordinator, was very taken with the Kildare duo in particular. Flynn ran a 2.95-second 20m sprint and excelled in the agility test, while the 6’2” Brophy ran a 14.7 beep-test. In comparison, the best score at last year’s NAB AFL Draft Combine was by Tom Clurey, who recorded a 15.1 shuttle run before being drafted to Port Adelaide.

The agility and dexterity of 6’6” Lucey also stood out.

“The kids themselves were fantastic. The quality and standard was quite high. We’ve got the talent down now, it’s just a matter of getting the clubs to pick and choose and make decisions.”

Two athletes from the talent search will be selected to attend the 2013 NAB AFL Draft Combine in October at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne among other draft hopefuls. A larger group will also be picked to form part of the European Legion in London next month, when it takes on the AIS-AFL Academy level two squad at Surrey Sportspark.