Kennelly to extend stay in Oz
Former Kerry footballer Tadhg Kennelly is reportedly at the preliminary phase of tying up a contract extension with the Sydney Swans.
Kennelly, whose current deal with the AFL Premiership champions runs out at the end of the 2006 season, had been contemplating a return to Ireland.
But with time on his side - Kennelly only turns 25 in July - the Listowel man's dream of winning an All-Ireland SFC title with his native county has been put on the back burner.
Now Kennelly's manager Michael Quinlan is eyeing up a lucrative contract that could see his charge remain Down Under until 2009.
Having become the first Irishman to win an AFL Grand Final last September, Kennelly could have easily rested on his laurels. But fit again after a shoulder injury, his desire for a second Premiership medal seems just as a strong - as evidenced by his barnstorming displays from half-back against Melbourne and Geelong in the last fortnight.
Quinlan said: "I have had some discussions with the club about going forward. There are still issues about the salary cap - what it is going to be. But we've had discussions and we're looking at going to the next step, which would be putting a contract offer in place.
"We're looking at a term of two to three years," he told the Australian Daily Telegraph.
Kennelly has played 103 times for Sydney since joining them in the 2000 rookie draft. In a newspaper interview last October, he admitted that his return home to play for Kerry was "only a matter of when".
