Swans debut for Kerry cygnet

Following months of speculation, patience has finally paid off for Kerry rookie Tadhg Kennelly who will make his senior football league debut for the Sydney Swans in the AFL at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday.

Over a year-and-a-half has elapsed since he first journeyed to Australia, having been lured to the professional ranks of the New South Wales club from his Kerry minor football days.

During that time, the Listowel youngster has been frustrated by his failure to make even the bench for a Swans league game.

However, advice from some of his fellow players and former AFL greats like Dubliner Jim Stynes was that his day would come, and that he should just stick with it.

"Unbelievable," was Kennelly's reaction to the news. "I found out this morning (Thursday). Great news, I'm absolutely thrilled.

"They just said to me that I had been very close over the last few weeks, and congratulated me that I had made the starting team. I'm not sure if I'll make the starting team, but I'll at least be on the interchange which means I'm guaranteed to play. I still can't believe it. I can't wait." In May, Kennelly made his playing debut against Victorian team Essendon in a pre-season challenge game and then, within a week, played in the Ansett Cup competition against Geelong in Darwin.

In both fixtures, he impressed his coaches with competent and assured displays that boosted his hopes of inclusion in the first team for the AFL.

The experience of playing with the Swans firsts reinforced his belief that the decision to come to Australia was right.

"It's come to the stage now where I want to play in every game," he said. "Over the year, I kept wondering to myself, `am I good enough to play this game'. The coaches believe in me, as do the rest of the senior players and that's great. It's been a great experience so far and now that I've made the breakthrough, it's up to me."

The AFL's drive to recruit young Gaelic footballers stemmed from the revival of the compromised rules series in 1998 and the under-17s tour which preceded the senior event.

Apart from Kennelly, Cork's Bernie Collins and Kevin Devine of Dublin currently play football in Melbourne.