TADGH: IRISH DUO MUST FOCUS ON THEIR GAMEPLAN
HAD you asked Tadhg Kennelly a decade ago about his Premiership win with the Sydney Swans, he might have agreed that it validated the sacrifices he made along the way.
Kennelly left Kerry as a teenager and went to the very top of a professional sport, which he had never played before until he moved to Sydney.
He remains the only Irish AFL player to win a Premiership.
Now 41, he has learned to view things differently: “I am a bit more philosophical as I get older,” he says.
“If you had asked me that 10 years ago I would probably have said, ‘yes.’
“With a young family, there are bigger things in life that will happen to you and define who you are as a person than a game of football and a result.
“It is probably more in the eyes of other people who are watching you, and looking at you.”
Kennelly says Grand Final week is all about blocking out the noise, something former GAA players and Geelong pair Mark O’connor and Zach Tuohy are likely to be focused on.
The duo were part of the Wildcats side which lost the 2020 final and are back for another crack at it.
“I think it’s controlling the outside noise if you can, which can be very difficult to do,” continued Kennelly.
“Because often the outside noise is almost the inside noise, where you are thinking in your own head about the weight of expectation, or your parents – who you want to do it for.
“You are thinking about all the people that have sacrificed things for you in the build up to the week.
“If you become too result oriented, it will just become overwhelming for you.”