Former Kerry minor Tadhg Kennelly had a memorable Australian Rules debut at the weekend as his club the Sydney Swans nudged their way back into the top-eight play-off places of the AFL. Underdogs against Carlton, the Swans edged the match with Kennelly attracting a lot of attention.

And Kennelly will miss the chance to cheer on the Lions rugby team in Saturday's deciding rugby Test as he will be busy with his second AFL start, against Hawthorn.

The performance, according to Ray Kersher in Sydney's Daily Telegraph, was even better than the bare details. "If anything, his stats of seven kicks, one handball and four marks did not do him justice. Had his team-mates kicked straight he could have been held responsible for setting up at least two Swans goals."

Kennelly played for three-quarters of the match and was praised by club officials. Coach Rodney Eade said: "I thought the kid went well. He did some nice things, he didn't look out of place and he gave us something."

"They told me to run and run very fast," was the player's account of the advice he received before taking the field. "I thought I would probably get around 10 minutes and then when the final siren went I thought, 'I have just played three quarters of AFL footy'."

Alan Kennedy in the Melbourne Age was also impressed. "If he continues to improve, he has a long career ahead of him and his mother Nuala, whom the Swans flew out from Ireland to see Tadhg's first game, will be waiting a long time for her boy to come home. He was poised and skilful and looked like he had been playing AFL footy for quite some time."

Kennelly is also quoted in the Age. "I have worked unbelievably hard for 18 months to get to here and to be out there and help the boys get the result for the team is fantastic. If you get a chance like this, you have to grab it. I knew if I got a chance I would go out and bust my arse, and I did."