Kennelly says the tide to AFL will grow stronger

THE GAA should brace itself for a significant increase in the recruitment of Irish players by the AFL clubs in the coming years.

That’s the prediction of Tadhg Kennelly, who is convinced draft concessions granted to the AFL’s two new teams, Gold Coast and Western Sydney, will inevitably lead to an increase in Irish players in Australia.

Kennelly said the best footballers were an ideal alternative source of talent for the 16 existing clubs that will lose draft picks because of the concessions, and thus lose out on the best local players.

“They’re going to be looking for the next ready-made talent and I definitely think there’s a pool of talent in Ireland that’s ready to be tapped into,” he said.

The prospect of playing professional sport is the biggest lure for Irish footballers, he explained. And while there is some concern in Ireland about the loss of some of the GAA’s best players to Aussie Rules, Kennelly reckons the trend will be ultimately beneficial to the association.

“I’ve had a lot of them get in touch with me, particularly when I was at home because it was a lot easier.

“They ask me about it and I’ve told them that they’ve got nothing to lose.

“If you go over and you don’t like it . . . you can study part-time, you can learn to become a professional athlete and if you decide to come back, I can guarantee you you’re going to come back a better Gaelic footballer.

“When they do come back, they are going to better the game of Gaelic football.

“They’ll better the coaching standards and they’ll better the football because they’ve been in a professional environment for so long.”