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Kennelly's new hunger for a scrap
By Jessica Halloran
May 9 2003
He's learning to be tough. To get hurt. Trying to develop muscles. He's throwing his body into contests without fear. But being fearless isn't easy. It doesn't come naturally to Tadhg Kennelly.
Kennelly has learnt an extraordinary amount from scratch about Australian football. He's memorised rules, learnt tactics, intricacies and skills. At times he has grasped these things astonishingly quickly.
But one thing that was particularly difficult for Kennelly, due to his Gaelic footy background, was simply being hard at the ball. Having that footy player grit.
"Being a tough guy, it's there in everyone and you've just got to find it," he says.
"It's not part of Gaelic football and it's something that I've worked on. For the boys here it is a natural thing, just to throw yourself in there and get the football. I'm inclined to stay on my feet as much as possible. I kind of want to use my speed.
"I'm getting there. I'm not afraid any more to throw myself in front of a pack coming behind. All it is is confidence. You're not going to get hurt if you do it, you might get a knock, and you can shake it off. It comes with getting big, big enough to protect yourself."
So Kennelly has added another four kilograms since the pre-season. All up, he thinks he's gained around 15kg since he landed with the Swans at pre-season training in 1999.
But the main thing Kennelly has had to learn is tackling - how to do it and how to handle being tackled. As coach Paul Roos says, it was something very foreign to him.
"He's improved a lot in that area," Roos says. "Coming from a game where you are not allowed to tackle, he's done well. I still think he's got a way to go but there's been vast improvement."
The Irishman is currently spending most of his time on the field as a half-back flanker.
"I still have positions to try out," he says. "And the coaches still don't know where I'll end up. If I'm playing good football at half-back, why move me?"
Mentor and former assistant coach at the Swans George Stone says that in a year and half Kennelly will probably reach his potential as a footballer. Stone says he can see Kennelly in an on-ball role in the future.
"If you look where he's going to play, it's not at centre half-forward or centre half-back," Stone says. "He has potential to be an on-baller, a tall ruck-rover or a wingman."
Kennelly has always had that will to succeed, Stone says. That grit has always been inside him.
"He has dedication," Stone says. "He does have that mental toughness to take him to the next level. It's in his nature rather than it needs to be coached into him."
Kennelly has played some outstanding football in the Swans' past two matches. The wins over Melbourne and Collingwood have showcased Kennelly's hunger for the ball, decision-making and pace out of defence.
The Swans are currently finalising a three-year contract that will keep Kennelly in red and white until the end of 2006. But sometimes he thinks of what could have been in Ireland, especially when he chats to his dad about the Gaelic footy scene.
"I think I could be playing," Kennelly says.
But he thinks things have worked out this way for a reason.
"I've fitted right in here. I feel like it's my home now."
Stone, now an assistant coach at Hawthorn, says Kennelly will be around for quite some time.
"One thing that will happen to him is that other teams will start to work him out, and because of that, he'll have to keep improving," he says
By Jessica Halloran
May 9 2003
He's learning to be tough. To get hurt. Trying to develop muscles. He's throwing his body into contests without fear. But being fearless isn't easy. It doesn't come naturally to Tadhg Kennelly.
Kennelly has learnt an extraordinary amount from scratch about Australian football. He's memorised rules, learnt tactics, intricacies and skills. At times he has grasped these things astonishingly quickly.
But one thing that was particularly difficult for Kennelly, due to his Gaelic footy background, was simply being hard at the ball. Having that footy player grit.
"Being a tough guy, it's there in everyone and you've just got to find it," he says.
"It's not part of Gaelic football and it's something that I've worked on. For the boys here it is a natural thing, just to throw yourself in there and get the football. I'm inclined to stay on my feet as much as possible. I kind of want to use my speed.
"I'm getting there. I'm not afraid any more to throw myself in front of a pack coming behind. All it is is confidence. You're not going to get hurt if you do it, you might get a knock, and you can shake it off. It comes with getting big, big enough to protect yourself."
So Kennelly has added another four kilograms since the pre-season. All up, he thinks he's gained around 15kg since he landed with the Swans at pre-season training in 1999.
But the main thing Kennelly has had to learn is tackling - how to do it and how to handle being tackled. As coach Paul Roos says, it was something very foreign to him.
"He's improved a lot in that area," Roos says. "Coming from a game where you are not allowed to tackle, he's done well. I still think he's got a way to go but there's been vast improvement."
The Irishman is currently spending most of his time on the field as a half-back flanker.
"I still have positions to try out," he says. "And the coaches still don't know where I'll end up. If I'm playing good football at half-back, why move me?"
Mentor and former assistant coach at the Swans George Stone says that in a year and half Kennelly will probably reach his potential as a footballer. Stone says he can see Kennelly in an on-ball role in the future.
"If you look where he's going to play, it's not at centre half-forward or centre half-back," Stone says. "He has potential to be an on-baller, a tall ruck-rover or a wingman."
Kennelly has always had that will to succeed, Stone says. That grit has always been inside him.
"He has dedication," Stone says. "He does have that mental toughness to take him to the next level. It's in his nature rather than it needs to be coached into him."
Kennelly has played some outstanding football in the Swans' past two matches. The wins over Melbourne and Collingwood have showcased Kennelly's hunger for the ball, decision-making and pace out of defence.
The Swans are currently finalising a three-year contract that will keep Kennelly in red and white until the end of 2006. But sometimes he thinks of what could have been in Ireland, especially when he chats to his dad about the Gaelic footy scene.
"I think I could be playing," Kennelly says.
But he thinks things have worked out this way for a reason.
"I've fitted right in here. I feel like it's my home now."
Stone, now an assistant coach at Hawthorn, says Kennelly will be around for quite some time.
"One thing that will happen to him is that other teams will start to work him out, and because of that, he'll have to keep improving," he says
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