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The idea of Tadhg running freely on a wing and putting pressure on the opposition backs with shots at goal and passes to our forwards appeals to me greatly.
Kennelly slowly coming to terms
3:04:14 PM Thu 18 December, 2003
Karen Collins
afl.com.au
It was a moment Tadhg Kennelly would rather forget.
Alone in the Sydney Swans change room, head resting on his left palm wishing he could turn back time.
In the neighbouring rooms at Telstra Stadium, the Brisbane Lions were celebrating after they turned a three-point advantage at the final break into a 44-point romp to dispose of the home side in the preliminary final on their way to a third successive premiership.
Three months on, Kennelly still shakes his head in disbelief when reliving the moment where a picture told the story.
?I was just thinking - it?s gone, all of a sudden it?s gone,? Kennelly told afl.com.au.
?That?s it, we are done. We were just so close and yet we are gone, we are finished. For the next couple hours after the game all that was going through my head was that we were finished.?
?We were so close.?
?I suppose it was frustrating more than anything else because you put in such hard work and because in that game we fought back from three goals down to just three points, we really let ourselves down.?
?Normally we just worked, worked, worked flat out in the games but in that last quarter we just fell away. It just wasn?t us.?
The 22 year-old admitted he just wanted to be alone after the match though found he was blaming himself.
?You would make a mistake and you would be thinking - what was I doing with that kick? ? and you turn around and Brisbane kicked a goal.?
Kennelly took a groin injury into the match, and post-season surgery ruled him out of what would have been his third International Rules series.
While upset at missing the opportunity to play for his country against four teammates - Brett Kirk, Leo Barry, Jared Crouch and Barry Hall - he was proud of their performances.
His outlook is remarkable considering he was brought to Sydney in 2000 from a Gaelic Football background, then elevated from the rookie list in 2001 before playing 20-matches the following year - receiving a National AFL Rising Star nomination after round 19.
He has made a big impression at the Swans in a short time, becoming a regular in defence and a cult figure.
Now he is passing on the wisdom learnt from his AFL years to countryman Setanta O?hAilpin, one of Carlton?s new rookies, whose background was in hurling.
Kennelly phoned him shortly after his arrival and caught up recently in Melbourne.
?I wished him the best of luck and I told him to latch on to a couple players in these early stages.?
?Then get use to the whole training regime and set-up and not worry too much about his fitness. Worry about adapting to the skills of the game because that is what they are looking at in the short term.?
?He has years and years to work on his fitness.?
O?hAilpin won the hurling equivalent to the AFL Rising Star award so his decision to move to Australia has prompted plenty of interest.
?He is pretty big and had a good future for him in Gaelic Football but then obviously Carlton offered him this and he has taken it up."
?(He is) getting the chance of a lifetime to be a professional because Gaelic Football is only an amateur sport in Ireland. Obviously the clubs here are picking the best Gaelic Footballers to come out and have a crack and hopefully make the grade at AFL.?
Now Kennelly has made the grade, he is raising the bar higher.
?Last year I really cemented myself into the team. Now it is just trying to play really high consistent football, really, really high, and not to be playing any poor games.?
?I need to work on the left side of my body as it is not the best because when I came out I just worked on getting my right side first.?
?There are other areas of my game where I need to improve, but my main goal is to get my fitness level up to play in the midfield for longer periods of the game."
Kennelly slowly coming to terms
3:04:14 PM Thu 18 December, 2003
Karen Collins
afl.com.au
It was a moment Tadhg Kennelly would rather forget.
Alone in the Sydney Swans change room, head resting on his left palm wishing he could turn back time.
In the neighbouring rooms at Telstra Stadium, the Brisbane Lions were celebrating after they turned a three-point advantage at the final break into a 44-point romp to dispose of the home side in the preliminary final on their way to a third successive premiership.
Three months on, Kennelly still shakes his head in disbelief when reliving the moment where a picture told the story.
?I was just thinking - it?s gone, all of a sudden it?s gone,? Kennelly told afl.com.au.
?That?s it, we are done. We were just so close and yet we are gone, we are finished. For the next couple hours after the game all that was going through my head was that we were finished.?
?We were so close.?
?I suppose it was frustrating more than anything else because you put in such hard work and because in that game we fought back from three goals down to just three points, we really let ourselves down.?
?Normally we just worked, worked, worked flat out in the games but in that last quarter we just fell away. It just wasn?t us.?
The 22 year-old admitted he just wanted to be alone after the match though found he was blaming himself.
?You would make a mistake and you would be thinking - what was I doing with that kick? ? and you turn around and Brisbane kicked a goal.?
Kennelly took a groin injury into the match, and post-season surgery ruled him out of what would have been his third International Rules series.
While upset at missing the opportunity to play for his country against four teammates - Brett Kirk, Leo Barry, Jared Crouch and Barry Hall - he was proud of their performances.
His outlook is remarkable considering he was brought to Sydney in 2000 from a Gaelic Football background, then elevated from the rookie list in 2001 before playing 20-matches the following year - receiving a National AFL Rising Star nomination after round 19.
He has made a big impression at the Swans in a short time, becoming a regular in defence and a cult figure.
Now he is passing on the wisdom learnt from his AFL years to countryman Setanta O?hAilpin, one of Carlton?s new rookies, whose background was in hurling.
Kennelly phoned him shortly after his arrival and caught up recently in Melbourne.
?I wished him the best of luck and I told him to latch on to a couple players in these early stages.?
?Then get use to the whole training regime and set-up and not worry too much about his fitness. Worry about adapting to the skills of the game because that is what they are looking at in the short term.?
?He has years and years to work on his fitness.?
O?hAilpin won the hurling equivalent to the AFL Rising Star award so his decision to move to Australia has prompted plenty of interest.
?He is pretty big and had a good future for him in Gaelic Football but then obviously Carlton offered him this and he has taken it up."
?(He is) getting the chance of a lifetime to be a professional because Gaelic Football is only an amateur sport in Ireland. Obviously the clubs here are picking the best Gaelic Footballers to come out and have a crack and hopefully make the grade at AFL.?
Now Kennelly has made the grade, he is raising the bar higher.
?Last year I really cemented myself into the team. Now it is just trying to play really high consistent football, really, really high, and not to be playing any poor games.?
?I need to work on the left side of my body as it is not the best because when I came out I just worked on getting my right side first.?
?There are other areas of my game where I need to improve, but my main goal is to get my fitness level up to play in the midfield for longer periods of the game."
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