Walsh impresses Saints while Moran works hard to convince

KERRY FOOTBALLERS Dave Moran and Tommy Walsh are impressing Saint Kilda’s recruiters after two weeks of eye-watering pre-season training in the sweltering Melbourne heat.

Walsh, the GAA’s 2008 young footballer of the year, has already signed a two-year international rookie contract for this year’s beaten AFL Grand Finalists, but Moran’s future remains undecided.

Moran arrived in Australia having only really featured for Kerry in the National League, the presence of Darragh Ó Sé and Séamus Scanlon keeping him out of the championship starting team, and initially took longer than Walsh – who successfully completed a fortnight’s trial with the Saints last year – to adjust to his new surroundings.

In the past week, however, Moran has shown plenty to suggest he is a quick learner who would not look out of place alongside Walsh in the AFL next year.

Australian players agent Ricky Nixon said whilst contract negotiations are confidential, Moran has not done his chances any harm if his pre-season efforts are anything to go by.

“Dave’s quite a laid-back character so when people don’t know him they can misconstrue that as him not trying but he’s impressed everyone with both his attitude and endeavour,” Nixon said.

“Tommy’s very similar but there’s no doubt they have both behaved impeccably and endeared themselves to their team-mates for the way they’ve got stuck into pre-season training after a long flight and when it’s been very hot in Melbourne.

“Dave finished ahead of Tommy in a recent 4km intra-club time trial but Dave’s got such high standards that he wasn’t satisfied and talked about wanting to run even faster next time.”

This is a fairly substantial turnaround from comments attributed to Nixon last week: “Dave wants to leave the GAA to play Australian Rules with Tommy but he arrived here overweight and his body language hasn’t been that great.

“He’s a laid-back sort of person anyway but sometimes he comes across a bit too laid-back.

“I was concerned when I met him a few months ago to talk about the possibility of him coming out to Australia and he hasn’t taken the advice on board.”

Moran remains tight-lipped about his future but makes no apology for working his socks off to impress Saint Kilda’s coaches.

“I came out here to do my best and to learn as much as possible,” said Moran. “I was brought up by my family to work hard, to give my all, and to respect my elders and team-mates.

“I want to earn the respect of everyone at Saint Kilda for giving me the chance to experience a professional sporting environment for the first time in my life.”

Nixon said Saints recruiting manager Matthew Drain has complimented the Kerry men for hitting the ground running from the moment they arrived “Down Under” in mid-November (yet another contradictory comment from Nixon).

The Saints will confirm their 2010 playing list next month.

“Dave and Tommy are quality athletes and they didn’t take the decision lightly to fly across the other side of the world,” Nixon continued.

“They are in regular contact with their families and they have done everything that could have been expected of them so far.

“Nobody is putting any pressure on them and they are both enjoying training in a professional environment and learning as much about Australian Rules football as they can.”