Former Sydney premiership player Tadhg Kennelly is returning from his stint in Ireland to reignite his AFL career at the Sydney Swans. Kennelly who left on the verge of the 2009 AFL season will resume his career at the Swans with the signing of a 2 year deal.
Kennelly left after playing 158 games for Sydney to fulfill a life long dream of playing in an all Ireland championship with his Irish county team Kerry. Kerry was able to achieve this milestone and this opened the door for a possible return for the 28 year old. Kennelly’s girl friend never left the Harbour city and could have been an important part of his return to the code.
Sydney coach Paul Roos reported that St Kilda had also shown interest in the former Swan but said “It’s great news for the footy club”. Roos had traveled to Ireland to watch Kennelly play in Gaelic Football and said “I didn’t speak to him when I was over there. I had a brief chat to him, probably a couple of weeks ago, when I was pretty sure that was the way he was heading but until you actually get the final say so and you agree to terms and all those sorts of things I never really knew.”
The Swans have the luxury of only having to resign Kennelly as he was never delisted from the club and therefore does not need to nominate for the pre season draft. This signing is a real boost for the Swans who now have much more flexibility across the half back line with Kennelly, Shaw and Mattner being much the same positional players.
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