O'Sullivan, McCarthy reach dual agreement

LIMERICK SENIOR football manager Mickey Ned O’Sullivan has revealed that he has come to an agreement with hurling counterpart Justin McCarthy about the use of the county’s main dual players.

O’Sullivan has confirmed that coveted stars Stephen Lucey, Stephen Walsh and Mark O’Riordan will be allowed to play both hurling and football for Limerick “for the foreseeable future”.

Lucey and O’Riordan both featured for Limerick’s footballers during a challenge match against Cork last Saturday, while Walsh, a member of the football squad last year, hurled with the South divisional team.

Lucey and O’Riordan were key figures during the Liam Kearns football era in Limerick when the Shannonsiders challenged the traditional Cork/Kerry dominance, but the two players have concentrated on hurling in recent seasons.

Walsh came to the attention of McCarthy after playing a starring role for the Limerick intermediate hurlers en route to last year’s All-Ireland final, and now he, along with Lucey and O’Riordan, will attempt to juggle both codes.

O’Sullivan, who has assembled a strong squad ahead of his fourth full season in charge, admitted: “Everything helps. You have to give players a right to play both if they’re capable of doing it.”

Confirming that he discussed the situation over the phone with former Waterford hurling manager McCarthy, O’Sullivan added: “Yes, I have spoken to Justin and we’re going to give it a go for a while and see how it goes.

“We will take every game as it comes, but the players are central to everything and must not be burnt out. If they can do it, we will facilitate them in any way, but we don’t know whether or not it will work out because the games have evolved.

“Justin is willing to give it a go for the foreseeable future and we’ll look at it again. I’m pleased that he was willing to go for it and see if it’s feasible, but it’s a big task for any modern day intercounty player.”

Meanwhile, Tadhg Kennelly has ended speculation of an early return to Gaelic Games by reaffirming his commitment to the AFL and the Sydney Swans for one last season.

However, the former Kerry minor and under-21 star is already looking forward to seeing out his playing days in his native county, whether than means being part of the senior team. And he also believes the Swans have a ready-made replacement in Tyrone underage star Kyle Coney.

“It’s still the plan to go home at the end of the year,” says Kennelly, “so the way I’m looking at it is that I’ve got one year left and I’ll make the most of it and enjoy myself, and, hopefully, we can have some more success.

“I’ve had two hard years with the knee first and then the shoulder, and it was incredibly frustrating more than anything else. I’m hoping that I can get a good run at it, an injury-free run more than anything else.

“I’ve loved my time here, but I obviously miss my family and friends and this is my 10th year, and it’s been a long time to be away.

“I’m looking forward to getting back playing local football, not even big-time football, just to get back again playing with my brother Noel and getting in there with the mates I grew up with and having a laugh with them.”

Coney, meanwhile, spent the first six weeks of the AFL pre-season training with the Swans, but after returning home for Christmas then decided against returning in the long-term. However, Kennelly is still confident the Tyrone teenager could make a successful transition to the Australian code if he wanted to.

“I know what it’s like,” he said. “It’s that time of the year, and you’re with your family and friends, and I remember when it was hard for me to come back when I was in Kyle’s situation quite a few years ago.

“But we’re still trying to get him back out here, it’s not clear-cut yet that he’s not going to come back. He’s indicated he’s still thinking about it, so we’re still working on it.

“I know it’s so hard for an 18-year-old to be on the other side of the world for so long, and, the thing with Kyle, he’d have a lot of people trying to convince him to stay, and do this and do that, because he’s probably the best Gaelic football player in Ireland. He’s the next big thing, so why wouldn’t they try their best to keep him there?”

On a related matter, the International Rules Series with Australia later this year will have a different feel to it following the decision of Coca-Cola Bottlers Ireland to withdraw their sponsorship of both the Series itself and of the Irish team.

A statement from Croke Park yesterday confirmed the sponsor had decided “not to continue as sponsor for the International Rules Series in Ireland or the Irish International Rules Team in 2009”.

GAA president Nickey Brennan also thanked them “for their support as series sponsors since 1998 and team sponsors since 2000, and I would also like to acknowledge their continued sponsorship with Féile Péil na nÓg and Féile na nGael.”

However, Brennan also stated that the GAA is in the process of tendering for the TV rights for the 2009 and 2011 Series, and will be putting together sponsorship packages for both the series and the Irish team after this process is complete.

The next two Tests in the series take place in Ireland this year on the weekends of October 24th and 31st, with a year’s break before the series resumes in Australia in 2011.

Finally, De La Salle forward John Mullane received a record number of nominations for his Munster AIB Provincial Player Award, which honours the best players in the club championship.