He had a ten-year career with the Sydney Swans, playing in two AFL Grand finals, including victory in the 2005 final but Tadhg Kennelly says that nothing will match the pressure he felt playing for Kerry in 2009.
The Listowel man is back in Ireland for the AFL Combine which was held at DCU.
Asked in The Irish Times about the transition Tommy Walsh will face returning to the round ball game, he said that the skills aspect of the change was tough for him initially but the burden of playing for Kerry was what he really felt.
I probably felt in 2009 that it was the most pressurised year of my life, and I’d spent 10 years of playing professional football and I’d felt nowhere near the pressure of an an amateur footballer playing for Kerry – there’s your argument its crazy stuff. You’re dealing with playing in front of 80,000 every week yet the pressure that’s put on you here is just immense and I had a lot of sleepless nights that year.
He went onto say that a lot of that pressure came from within, likely as he wanted to emulate his father and brother Noel by winning an All-Ireland medal.
Picture credit: Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE
