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Post by givehimaball on Oct 30, 2016 20:18:04 GMT
This year in addition to Mark O'Connor 3 more players have signed contracts with Aussie Rules clubs. Connor Nash (Meath), Darragh Joyce (Kilkenny) and Ray Connellen (Westmeath) All of these signed 2 year contracts so I assume they are all getting the €55k a year contracts with accommodation, car and a number of return flights to Ireland covered. There's no way the GAA are able to compete financially no matter what sort of scholarships are on offer. Worth remembering that this is the minimum. Even if a player goes there for 2 years and doesn't make any serious progress, they will likely be returning home with a fairly serious chunk of change. There's also the prospect of fairly decent salaries if things do work out. This article below says the average salary broke the AUD $300,000 mark in 2016, which is €207k at today's rates and that the . In terms of the top salaries there were 2 players earning more than AUD $ 1.2 million a year (€828,000) a year. www.afl.com.au/news/2016-02-12/afl-players-average-salaries-top-300k-for-the-first-time
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Post by frankgalvintralee on Oct 31, 2016 16:59:27 GMT
This year in addition to Mark O'Connor 3 more players have signed contracts with Aussie Rules clubs. Connor Nash (Meath), Darragh Joyce (Kilkenny) and Ray Connellen (Westmeath) All of these signed 2 year contracts so I assume they are all getting the €55k a year contracts with accommodation, car and a number of return flights to Ireland covered. There's no way the GAA are able to compete financially no matter what sort of scholarships are on offer. Worth remembering that this is the minimum. Even if a player goes there for 2 years and doesn't make any serious progress, they will likely be returning home with a fairly serious chunk of change. There's also the prospect of fairly decent salaries if things do work out. This article below says the average salary broke the AUD $300,000 mark in 2016, which is €207k at today's rates and that the . In terms of the top salaries there were 2 players earning more than AUD $ 1.2 million a year (€828,000) a year. www.afl.com.au/news/2016-02-12/afl-players-average-salaries-top-300k-for-the-first-timeI feel for the GAA but they are not doing enough to stop players going its about time they stood up but what can gaa compete with when the lifestyle is so great out there!
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Post by Mickmack on Oct 31, 2016 23:13:10 GMT
Simonstown won their first Meath championship on Sunday. Shane ORourke was at midfield. Colm is the manager. The other midfielder is a lad called Nash aged 19 and a great prospect. Great rugby player too and Leinster were after him. But he too is off to Oz to play Aussie rules. Flying out this week i think.
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kerryexile
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Post by kerryexile on Nov 1, 2016 9:16:51 GMT
All around the world politics is reflecting a rejection of the way society is going. Here we have a minority government, in Britain there is brexit, Trump in America, an outfit in Iceland called the Pirate party. I think what people are rejecting is capitalism - a small number of powerful wealthy people continuously squeezing money out of ordinary people. People want values where everything is not for sale.
The GAA crossed the Rubicon when they took Murdoch’s shilling.
Somewhere along the line we have thrown the baby out with the bathwater.
Contrast the values in the below article by Dick Clerkin and those in the above post by Mickmack.
Announcing his retirement from inter-county football after 180 outings with Monaghan, Dick Clerkin offers gratitude to the remarkable attitude and resilience of his Farney team-mates who stepped up — and then stepped up some more...
As a 17-year-old, on a typically wet and miserable September evening in 1999, my father Hugo drove me to my first trial game for Monaghan in Louth. Growing up, watching re-runs of old Monaghan games from the 80s on old Sony Betamax tapes, all I ever wanted to do was emulate him by having a long career with Monaghan.
After watching him tussle with Jack O’Shea in the middle of the park, myself and my brother Ben would tog out in his old jerseys and do battle on our homemade field of dreams.
Sometimes I feel I have been playing for Monaghan for almost 30 years.
A creditable performance, on that otherwise forgettable night in Louth, marked the start of a roller-coaster journey that would take us around almost every county ground in the country.
Of the 180 or so times I have played for Monaghan since, you could have counted the games he missed on one hand. There were familiar words of advice before every one. Yet over a relatively short phone call last Friday evening, we both agreed now was the right time to leave it behind.
Discussing it with my wife Alison at length over the past few months, we both agreed that, for various reasons, it was time to move on. Crucially it feels right, but if I’m honest I knew long before now.
A qualifier defeat to Longford in Clones marked my final day with Monaghan. With the boys struggling with the after-effects of a gruelling two-game battle with Donegal in the weeks previous, I watched on helplessly as a Longford ambush unfolded. Warming up, hoping to get one last run, I glanced into the crowd only to see my eldest son, Cailean, smiling curiously at me from only a few feet away.
He had been running along the front of the stand, mimicking my warm-up all evening. Making way for youth, I watched the final sub being brought on ahead of me. I knew there and then I was unlikely to be togged out for Monaghan again.
Before walking back to the stand, I motioned to Cailean to go for one last length of the stand together. He won’t remember it, but I will. One last memory to treasure, from an already bulging collection.
With a sense of duty and commitment in the jersey instilled by my father, I was always confident of enjoying a long career with Monaghan. What I couldn’t have banked on was having a career that coincided with so many remarkable team-mates with like-minded values and ambition. Leaders amongst men, their unshakeable commitment to club and county has been remarkable.
Following our heartbreaking defeat to Down in the 2012 Ulster semi-final, Tommy Conlon wrote a reflective piece about us in his Sunday column.
“The truly honourable thing about this team is they stuck together. They stayed the distance. They kept trying to improve. The kept striving and straining against their own limitations. They poured their guts into the pursuit of an Ulster title. They had a window of time in which to do it…They were a good team, at times formidable. They tried to be the best they could be. It wasn’t quite enough. The wheel has turned, the window has closed.”
At the time of writing, few would have disagreed with Tommy, myself included. Yet even in what was unquestionably our darkest hour, as Tommy rightly stated, we stuck together. We have always stuck together.
Our success in the years since was built on the foundations of mutual respect and a commitment that carried us through the disappointment of those previous campaigns. Genuine friendships are forged in such circumstances, that will last well beyond our playing days.
Only last weekend we all joined up again in Donegal to celebrate Drew Wylie’s marriage to his beautiful bride Aoife.
I have witnessed a remarkable transformation in the psyche of Monaghan football during my career. Motivated by pride, sustained by hard work, validated with success. I am not going to patronise with thanks the countless people who have contributed to making Monaghan football what it is today. Striking an almost perfect balance between club and county, Monaghan football and all those responsible, should be held up as a shining example of what can be achieved with relatively limited resources. Supporters, administrators, sponsors, and mentors, all with a like-minded sense of duty and passion, for something bigger than ourselves.
I am proud to have been part of that transformation.
Alison and I are finally settled in Monaghan now. With two exuberant boys, Cailean and Daragh, at our feet, a storied football career pales in significance to the fulfilling life we have built together, surrounded by family and friends. Seventeen years ago my mother and father set me on a journey and have provided unwavering support ever since. I hope I made them proud.
Onlookers are continually amazed at the commitment and resilience required to play inter-county football nowadays. For me it was relatively easy to play for so long, when you have a remarkable family and partner like Alison to support you along the journey.
Nowadays, I drive past our fantastic training centre on the way home from work every evening. Dormant at present, but it won’t be long before it becomes a bustling hive of activity for all ages.
The class of 2017 will take the field with an unquenchable ambition to don a jersey I have been privileged to wear for close to 20 years. For me, the ‘window’ Tommy Conlon referenced has finally closed. I look forward to the day that another will open for my boys, and like my father and mother did for me, myself and Alison will be there every step of the way.
Slán libh, agus go raibh maith agaibh
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Post by ballynamona on Nov 3, 2016 20:19:53 GMT
Thanks for posting that Kerryexile.
I note that Dick Clerkin has a son called Daragh - I presume it's not after Darragh O Sé - they had some right battles.
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Jigz84
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Post by Jigz84 on Nov 9, 2016 10:04:16 GMT
www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/killian-young-kerry-must-protect-players-from-afl-poachers-429685.html Killian Young: Kerry must protect players from AFL poachersKerry defender Killian Young has revealed his deep frustration with the ongoing targeting of the county’s best young players by Australian Rules clubs. The Kingdom have already lost 2015 All-Ireland-winning minor captain Mark O’Connor to a two-year rookie deal at AFL side Geelong, the club that signed Kerry’s Padraig Lucey in 2014. It’s understood that AFL scouts are also monitoring David Clifford, the star of this year’s three-in-a-row minor side, while Young has suggested that as many as “five or six” Kerry talents could ultimately be recruited. Young’s anger is replicated in other counties, with Conor Nash, the towering Meath teenager, jetting out to Hawthorn next Tuesday, along with Derry’s Conor Glass. However, the focus on Kerry’s best young players is inevitably stronger, given that they’ve dominated the minor grade in recent seasons, something that AFL international talent coordinator Tadhg Kennelly is only too aware of. “What worries me in one sense is that we’re after winning a three-in-a-row in the minors, developing top-quality players who are coming through, and the fear I have is that they [AFL clubs] are all looking at our players,” Young told Radio Kerry’s Terrace Talk. “What’s the point of us developing top-class players in this county if they’re all going to go away to Australia on professional contracts? “So, we really have to find a way to protect our players for Kerry’s future, for us to be winning All-Irelands, [otherwise] there’s no point us bringing through players in these top-class programmes at youth level. It’s a frustration for me. “It’s just one that we’d be looking to keep Tadhg Kennelly away from us at the moment, because he seems to be poaching our players and, for our future in County Kerry, we need to hold onto them.” O’Connor was the 50th Irish player to sign professional terms with an AFL club and the big fear in Kerry is that Clifford will follow. The six-foot-two-inch Fossa youngster and Hogan Cup medal winner was the stand-out performer at minor level this year and hit 2-27 in Kerry’s successful championship campaign. “I seen bits and pieces on him and I’ve heard a lot as well, but outside of David there’s a lot of quality in there,” continued Young. “We have all that quality within Kerry which we’re lucky enough to have and there is a fear that our players are going to be going away on professional contracts and that at the moment you’re talking about maybe five or six, and that’s colossal, that’s our best players that we’ve produced in the county over the last 10 years of development and we have to find a method of keeping these players at home. “Look, you can’t blame a fella for going for a professional contract, I can’t tell them not to do it or anything like that, or that they’re making the wrong decision, it’s a great opportunity, of course, but we have to find a way to keep our players at home and to develop them into the senior team.” Young himself, who turns 30 in January, is looking forward to an 11th season of senior activity and chasing a fifth All-Ireland medal. He insisted Eamonn Fitzmaurice is the right man to lead them to that goal and pointed to the pressure that Kerry put on back-to-back champions Dublin at stages of this year’s All-Ireland semi-final. “We asked a lot of questions of them on the day and they had to defend a lot more and they were looking around and they looked a bit lost at times,” he said. “To be fair to that team, they found their way and came back at us and I suppose in one sense they had nothing to lose and it just didn’t work out for us in the last 10 [minutes], but look, we’re very happy within ourselves. We know there’s a few bits we need to get right and we’re not far behind.”
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Post by ataboy on Nov 9, 2016 14:14:02 GMT
www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/killian-young-kerry-must-protect-players-from-afl-poachers-429685.html Killian Young: Kerry must protect players from AFL poachersKerry defender Killian Young has revealed his deep frustration with the ongoing targeting of the county’s best young players by Australian Rules clubs. The Kingdom have already lost 2015 All-Ireland-winning minor captain Mark O’Connor to a two-year rookie deal at AFL side Geelong, the club that signed Kerry’s Padraig Lucey in 2014. It’s understood that AFL scouts are also monitoring David Clifford, the star of this year’s three-in-a-row minor side, while Young has suggested that as many as “five or six” Kerry talents could ultimately be recruited. Young’s anger is replicated in other counties, with Conor Nash, the towering Meath teenager, jetting out to Hawthorn next Tuesday, along with Derry’s Conor Glass. However, the focus on Kerry’s best young players is inevitably stronger, given that they’ve dominated the minor grade in recent seasons, something that AFL international talent coordinator Tadhg Kennelly is only too aware of. “What worries me in one sense is that we’re after winning a three-in-a-row in the minors, developing top-quality players who are coming through, and the fear I have is that they [AFL clubs] are all looking at our players,” Young told Radio Kerry’s Terrace Talk. “What’s the point of us developing top-class players in this county if they’re all going to go away to Australia on professional contracts? “So, we really have to find a way to protect our players for Kerry’s future, for us to be winning All-Irelands, [otherwise] there’s no point us bringing through players in these top-class programmes at youth level. It’s a frustration for me. “It’s just one that we’d be looking to keep Tadhg Kennelly away from us at the moment, because he seems to be poaching our players and, for our future in County Kerry, we need to hold onto them.” O’Connor was the 50th Irish player to sign professional terms with an AFL club and the big fear in Kerry is that Clifford will follow. The six-foot-two-inch Fossa youngster and Hogan Cup medal winner was the stand-out performer at minor level this year and hit 2-27 in Kerry’s successful championship campaign. “I seen bits and pieces on him and I’ve heard a lot as well, but outside of David there’s a lot of quality in there,” continued Young. “We have all that quality within Kerry which we’re lucky enough to have and there is a fear that our players are going to be going away on professional contracts and that at the moment you’re talking about maybe five or six, and that’s colossal, that’s our best players that we’ve produced in the county over the last 10 years of development and we have to find a method of keeping these players at home. “Look, you can’t blame a fella for going for a professional contract, I can’t tell them not to do it or anything like that, or that they’re making the wrong decision, it’s a great opportunity, of course, but we have to find a way to keep our players at home and to develop them into the senior team.” Young himself, who turns 30 in January, is looking forward to an 11th season of senior activity and chasing a fifth All-Ireland medal. He insisted Eamonn Fitzmaurice is the right man to lead them to that goal and pointed to the pressure that Kerry put on back-to-back champions Dublin at stages of this year’s All-Ireland semi-final. “We asked a lot of questions of them on the day and they had to defend a lot more and they were looking around and they looked a bit lost at times,” he said. “To be fair to that team, they found their way and came back at us and I suppose in one sense they had nothing to lose and it just didn’t work out for us in the last 10 [minutes], but look, we’re very happy within ourselves. We know there’s a few bits we need to get right and we’re not far behind.” Fair play Killian, great to see a former team mate of Kennelly put it up to him. Yes, Kennelly is only doing his job and has every right to do what he is doing. But I'm not you'd have every Kerry footballer would act the way Kennelly is doing. He could have a bit of respect. But it's important the players, county board and GAA as a whole are standing up to this. What is the point of developing players for Aussie Rules clubs?
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Post by kerrygold on Nov 10, 2016 9:30:23 GMT
Fair play to Killian for having a voice on the poaching of these young players from Kerry, Declan Quill and Ambrose earlier.
I wonder at what point will this drain lead to anger and when will the KCB become proactive in dealing with this menace. When 5 or 6 of them are gone?
Another clatter of young Kerry players up in Dublin this weekend again for trails it seems?
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kerryexile
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Post by kerryexile on Nov 10, 2016 11:55:40 GMT
I don’t agree at all that “Kennelly is only doing his job”.
The GAA is built on voluntary efforts. Huge amounts of time, effort and money by parents, teachers, club and county management and many others have gone into bringing the minors to AI success. The reward (hopefully) would be these players providing the county with strong senior panels and bringing senior success.
Kennelly’s “job” (i.e. definitely not voluntary) is to poach the best of these players. He is getting paid to be a parasite feeding on the association that made him and his family famous.
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Post by Mickmack on Nov 10, 2016 21:15:11 GMT
Brexit, Trump etc are happening probably because globalisation is is leaving too many people behind and creating too big a gap between rich and poor. Mechanisation and aotomation is going to make things worse. The choices and opportunities that were there for young people now are poorer than what their parents faced. I feel sorry for people in their 20s now.
The 40 hour week is gone. If they get a mortgage they will pay 4.5% interest while the ECB rate is nearly zero... while their parents are on a tracker probably. And there is a nice pile of national debt for them to pay off..a little gift from my generation.
If I were 19 years old and a gifted footballer I would take my chances with Aussie rules.
Sorry for the depressing post
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Post by onlykerry on Nov 11, 2016 9:48:59 GMT
A talented athlete will most likely succeed at any sport provided they apply themselves - we have been fortunate that Mark and others like him have applied themselves and become the best in their sport. Having stood on the side of running tracks and playing pitches for many years I have seen loads of wasted talent - youngsters ooozing with natural ability but sadly never fullfilled due to lack of committment. Those that do apply themselves end up dropping some sports to concentrate on one - of this years minor team I think 7 or so were on the Kerry Kennedy Cup soccer team together a few years ago (u14?) and all dropped soccer when the call to Kerry minors came - their soccer coaches were all gutted at losing the talent they had nurtured to GAA. As a coach it is a tremendous sense of pride and achievement to see a young athlete achieve their potential and yes a regret if and when they decide to pursue a different sport on occasions. GAA is an amateur pursuit and if a young athlete decides to take up an opportunity to turn pro I say well done and the door is always open if you change your mind. That is life and as the poem goes - Two roads diverged.....
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Premier
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Post by Premier on Nov 11, 2016 9:53:16 GMT
John Fogarty reporting that as many as 5 Kerry players at Kennelly's AFL combine in UCD today
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Jigz84
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Post by Jigz84 on Nov 11, 2016 10:02:22 GMT
John Fogarty reporting that as many as 5 Kerry players at Kennelly's AFL combine in UCD today This is becoming farcical and disheartening
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Post by Attacking Wing Back on Nov 11, 2016 10:15:41 GMT
What can the GAA do? Or the county board? If these lads want to go and make a life for themselves abroad then good luck to them? As for Tadhg Kennelly what do people want to about him? His job is to source the best possible talent for the clubs he is employed by. Kerry are after winning 3 minors on the spin so of course he is going to look at those players. The GAA is amateur so there is nothing to tie players to it.
As others have said previously, Mark O'Connor will have a far better lifestyle and opportunities for a 20 year old in terms of wages, education etc that he could ever hope to have if he stayed put in Dingle. If my son came to me at 19 and said he's been offered a contract to go abroad the play AFL I'd tell him to jump at it. Its nice to win All-Irelands etc but at the end of the day it wont put any food on the table.
People are picking on the AFL etc but, I think we have a lost a few prospects to soccer in the UK over the years. I think one of the Dennehy brothers played minor with Kerry before he went across the water.
I think people main gripe is with Kennelly 'poaching' players. But, he is offering them a chance at a better life as they see it. No one i being forced to go. I understand people being upset as its impacting the Kerry senior footballers but, at the end of the day he is giving these lads probably a shot at bettering their lot in life. As all it is is a shot, as no one can be sure if they make it or not. Just look at Tommy.
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Post by Annascaultilidie on Nov 11, 2016 13:44:47 GMT
As others have said previously, Mark O'Connor will have a far better lifestyle and opportunities for a 20 year old in terms of wages, education etc that he could ever hope to have if he stayed put in Dingle. If my son came to me at 19 and said he's been offered a contract to go abroad the play AFL I'd tell him to jump at it. Its nice to win All-Irelands etc but at the end of the day it wont put any food on the table. I hope the AFL club in question are offering him an education while he is over there.
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Post by Attacking Wing Back on Nov 11, 2016 14:29:09 GMT
As others have said previously, Mark O'Connor will have a far better lifestyle and opportunities for a 20 year old in terms of wages, education etc that he could ever hope to have if he stayed put in Dingle. If my son came to me at 19 and said he's been offered a contract to go abroad the play AFL I'd tell him to jump at it. Its nice to win All-Irelands etc but at the end of the day it wont put any food on the table. I hope the AFL club in question are offering him an education while he is over there. Its part of the package, they have to attend a college course.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2016 15:10:19 GMT
Look if they go they go. They are old enough now to make their own decisions. Like givehimaball rightly mentioned The GAA can't compete with what is offered to them if they leave. I agree with exile Kennelly is doing what he's paid to do he's a recruiter. If he doesn't do it someone else will. I'm sure Eamon is frustrated but what he's going to tell them that will keep them around. Nothing he can do. Like all Kerry people I am frustrated that they leave but you have to let them live their lives. It's more of the experiences they want the Lifestyle the money a new country etc. They're young and it's what they want to do. It's a sign of the times also. In the 70s 80s 90s playing for Kerry was what you had. You didn't really have that Sean Whyte and Jim Stynes maybe that was it. Kevin Moran went to England but most players got a job and played for Kerry. It's all changed now. We just have to worry right now about who will be available to Kerry next year and who Eamon brings in.
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Post by kerrybhoy06 on Nov 11, 2016 15:13:40 GMT
I suppose when Kennelly's contract is nearly up with the recruitment guys that he can reference the time that he has spent in Ireland and say that he is thinking about coming back here to do some coaching- once again using Kerry GAA as a method for getting himself a bigger pay deal.
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Post by kerrybhoy06 on Nov 11, 2016 15:14:45 GMT
John Fogarty reporting that as many as 5 Kerry players at Kennelly's AFL combine in UCD today Any names?
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Post by piggott on Nov 11, 2016 16:34:00 GMT
There should be some form of scholarships for the talented players. If a fellow spends 10 or 12 years playing inter county, the GAA should be more pro active in helping him get a decent career. Rugby were able to do it in the days before professionalism, still do I imagine.
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Post by Ballyfireside on Nov 11, 2016 19:29:47 GMT
Kennelly is getting support from certain quarters and the GAA's moral authority isn't helped by the Compromise games and the Sky deal.
Views on the Kennelly project are by and large consistent and I wonder how HQ sentiment is out of step. Maybe they didn't think it would come to this and Mickmack's comment re the financial burden placed on the younger generation tells a sorry story. On top of that our emigrants face increasing uncertainty, the salts of the earth of the GAA. I even had an experience where an editor of a local magazine insulted our emigrants and low and behold but like Kennelly he also had his cheerleaders, the blind leading the blind
In my own early emigrant days, an elderly Irish man passing in the night told me a tale of our fatherland. In my naivety I took it as a hard luck story, unwise I was, you live and you learn.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2016 20:03:17 GMT
There is no great tragedy here. Young guy gets opportunity of a lifetime. It may or may not work. We shall see.
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Post by kerrygold on Nov 11, 2016 20:16:37 GMT
Any names, someone must know who Kennelly has up there this weekend?
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Post by kerrygold on Nov 11, 2016 21:51:27 GMT
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Post by southward on Nov 11, 2016 22:08:36 GMT
Average 6 years is incredibly short for any sport.
Always thought it's a brutal game anyway. Low-skill caveman stuff imho. Shame to see a classy footballer lost to it.
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timmy
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Post by timmy on Nov 11, 2016 22:15:14 GMT
Average 6 years is incredibly short for any sport. Always thought it's a brutal game anyway. Low-skill caveman stuff imho. Shame to see a classy footballer lost to it. Couldn't agree more southward. Spent a year in Qz during Tadhg Kennelly's time with the Swans - went to 1 game and couldn't wait for it to end. Great athletes alright but over all the skill level is very poor.
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Post by kerrygold on Nov 11, 2016 22:19:45 GMT
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Post by kerrygold on Nov 11, 2016 22:42:09 GMT
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Post by Mickmack on Nov 12, 2016 9:23:25 GMT
Patrick O’Sullivan calls on GPA to encourage best players to stay
Saturday, November 12, 2016 By John Fogarty GAA Correspondent
An American passport holder, Kerry chairman Patrick O’Sullivan was entitled to vote in Tuesday’s Presidential Election but chose not to.
“I didn’t because there wasn’t anyone worth voting for! The man who’s elected is elected and everyone has to row in behind him. It would have been the same if it were Hillary (Clinton) who won.”
New York-born O’Sullivan’s US contacts were integral to the massive Stateside funding drive Kerry embarked on in his five years of chairmanship, which concludes in the middle of next month. It has meant the costs attributed to the construction of county’s centre of excellence in Currans (more of that another time) has been greatly offset although it wasn’t easy when they had competition in raising finances there.
“The GPA were over there before us and they were campaigning about mental health. Mental health is a serious issue but Irish- Americans had bought into the GPA idea because their parents and grandparents came from Ireland and these were amateur players providing entertainment. You can only sell so much of mental health. Maybe they could highlight the importance of education and other things. READ NEXT Carbery Rangers won’t be caught on the hop by The Nire
“We were selling a project and our project was to benefit people in Kerry. When we went to the US we first went to Kerry people who in turn went to people from other counties. (Irish-American businessman) Maurice Regan played an incredible role.
“A lot of people will do things for you once but he has helped us on three, four occasions. Eoin Moriarty was the person on the ground for us. Donal O’Sullivan, Tony Colbert... all those guys and more did a lot of work for us. We’re very proud of what we achieved and grateful for the support we received.”
O’Sullivan, who hasn’t let a series of leg operations this year hold him back, succeeded Jerome Conway as chairman a year earlier than expected. It will be up to his successor, Tim Murphy, to decide if the US fundraising campaigns are to continue but he expects they will maintain a presence there – “it can’t go on forever; the question is what have we got left to sell to get it (Currans) over the line.”
He believes the GPA should be doing more to persuade Gaelic games’ best players to remain in the country. “Look at the top 50 or 60 players coming up, give them scholarships and ensure they want for nothing when it comes to third level education. If they came together with the GAA and county boards on that, it could be a real force against what’s happening at the moment.”
What’s happening is the AFL’s heavy scouting of Gaelic players. Tadhg Kennelly’s AFL Talent Combine in Dublin this weekend includes five players. Dingle’s Mark O’Connor has already left for Geelong where Legion’s Padraig Lucey is based and O’Sullivan claims “another player is being badgered on a regular basis in the last couple of months about going to Australia”.
Declan Quill and Killian Young have already spoken out about how Kerry’s brightest are being poached and O’Sullivan insists the hemorrhaging has to stop.
“We’re looking at losing seven to nine to 10 minors from Kerry football over the next two or three years. That is something the GAA will have to look at and it’s not good enough for us to develop players and then for somebody to come in and take them away from us. We put our heart and soul into putting Kerry back on the map and it’s a very sad affair when anybody can come in and cherry-pick the best from any county. The GAA has to stem this because the counties are putting too much time, money and expertise on these players. Now anyone can come in and pick the best of them. It’s not good enough.”
That Kennelly is a figurehead of the campaign to attract players to Australia is a thorny issue for Kerry
“When you win three minors All-Irelands in a row, it’s easy to be drawn even though Tadhg is from our county and his family has a tradition with us. The problem is it’s too easy to come in and take a player and it’s too easy to send back a player crocked. And it’s too easy to sell a lifestyle that might be further from the truth and when you’re gone you don’t want to give up.
“The GPA have given scholarships to every Tom, Dick and Harry but maybe it’s time they concentrated on giving it to the best to help keep them in this country.
“We in Kerry don’t have the money to do that. We have to go beg and borrow like most counties. We have to raise money all the time to be competitive. People will tell you we’re this and that and ring a couple of boys in America but they can only keep going for so long like the boys in England.
“It comes down to Kerry people and whether they want to give €100 towards a ticket scheme to help Kerry improve or do they want to be above in the ditch giving out about the standard of the ticket and knocking officers and asking why we aren’t winning.”
O’Sullivan on .....
FOOTBALL
“I would be proud out about Kerry and I’m sure Kerry will prevail in the long run. Éamonn Fitzmaurice is the right man for Kerry, the way he handles himself and manages his players and backroom staff. Jack O’Connor is a manager who has the toughness to lead Kerry going forward but he’s now in a position to develop the next batch. Peter Keane has done an outstanding job. It doesn’t matter who is the chairman; everything will be provided to help Kerry win.”
HURLING
“There has always been a financial commitment to hurling in Kerry but it’s because of the sacrifices made by players Kerry are in Division 1B next year. They have had good managers over the years and there is some good work being done at under-age level. The hurling championship in Kerry is very competitive but the challenge is to get everybody who is committed to club hurling showing the same commitment to county hurling.”
PÁRAIC DUFFY’S SFC PROPOSAL
“We’re so far south and we have to travel to most things. Páraic Duffy’s proposal at least gives us one All-Ireland series game at home. The proposal may need a small bit of tweaking but, for us, it makes a lot of sense. I would agree with 95% of it and I don’t see many in the county who would knock it. If we keep on doing the same thing all of the time, we’re going to get the same answers all of the time.”
KILLARNEY/TRALEE
“When you are from Killarney and games are fixed for the town people will automatically associate that with the chairman being from Killarney and people will always cherry-pick what they want to think of you. The CCC, led by secretary Peter Twiss, organise games largely based on geography. For instance, Kenmare (District) wanted to play the county final against Crokes in Killarney. I’m very proud we did work in Tralee; I made that commitment before I ever became chairman. The pitch in Austin Stack Park wasn’t good enough and games had to be moved when the weather wasn’t good. We’re spending another €400,000 in the Pavilion at the moment and have plans to finish more work in the stadium.”
EMIGRATION DIFFICULTIES
“I am an officer 19 years with the county board, 10 years as development officer. I have met every club, those who are rich and poor, and it doesn’t matter where you are living here or in the likes of Mayo, Donegal and Sligo... emigration has hit you a lot harder than other parts of the country. People still travel to Cork for work. A lot of people come home on Friday from England and go back on the first flight Monday. That hasn’t changed. We don’t know how Brexit, or Trump becoming US president, is going to affect Ireland.”
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Post by Ballyfireside on Nov 12, 2016 11:46:06 GMT
The Oz issue is rooted in the structural flaws in our economy, similar flaws that are causing the shift in politics, Brexit, Trump etc. I suppose the reality is that the man in the street doesn't analyse it and few enough politicians even understand it anyway, and as the definition of madness states, 'keep doing the same things and you will keep getting the same results'. As a nation we are performing below our true potential but everywhere you go it is the same story - closed shop, cronyism, those who work against the public and greater good do as they please and the institutions of society rally around and protect them. But there is always a price and the cost is borne on society. For too long the same Gombeens are allowed to get away with it and that is the way it continues to work, or not as the case may be. We are a bit of a joke in many respects and I have seen situations that are so pathetic that a sane person mightn't even believe them.
The Oz factor has become a problem because despite the warnings, we left ourselves open by integrating with a professional sport and because it had similarities with our own code. So the fallout was inevitable as they were paying players to do a similar job. Worse still, can anyone tell us what we ever stood to gain? The first thing we now need to do is to come to our senses and withdraw from the compromise rules and which will also eliminate the risk of serious injury.
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