AFL-BOUND? Daniel Kirby of Kerry catches a kickout ahead of teammate Evan Boyle and Darragh Clifford of Cork. Pic:\u00a0 Brendan Moran\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n
Kerry\u2019s U20 All-Ireland winning midfielders Evan Boyle and Daniel Kirby have each been offered a contract from an AFL club, the Irish Examiner understands.<\/p>\n
The pair, who were selected in the U20 team of the year following Kerry\u2019s final win over Tyrone, have attracted concrete interest from Australia and are now weighing up the offers.<\/p>\n
Ballyduff\u2019s Boyle is also a member of the Kerry senior hurling panel, while Austin Stacks\u2019 Kirby is the son of two-time All-Ireland SFC-winning midfielder William.<\/p>\n
Kerry currently have four players contracted to AFL clubs – Mark O\u2019Connor (Dingle, Geelong), Cillian Burke (Milltown-Castlemaine, Geelong), Rob Monahan (Kilmoyley, Carlton) and Ben Murphy (Austin Stacks, Brisbane Lions).<\/p>\n
Tommy Walsh and Tadhg Kennelly are among the 10 from The Kingdom who have signed for AFL outfits since Se\u00e1n Wight in 1985.<\/p>\n
Boyle and Kirby\u2019s U20 manager Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 S\u00e9 has been an outspoken critic of AFL clubs\u2019 recruitment of Gaelic footballers.<\/p>\n
Early last year, he hit out at the behaviour of one franchise in approaching one teenage player.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know for a fact that there\u2019s an U20 player in Kerry being rang by coaches from an Australian club telling him how he did in matches after watching him on Clubber.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what the rules are, but if it was soccer or rugby I don\u2019t think they\u2019d be allowed to do that when a fella is doing his Leaving Cert.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t get me wrong, fellas think I\u2019m completely against going out, but if the offer is there I\u2019d always wish him all the best and hope they are a success out there.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut as a Kerry man, I hate the way it\u2019s done, I just hate the way there\u2019s 15 years going into a young fella and it\u2019s just, \u2018Oh yeah we\u2019ll have that fella there and we\u2019ll shoot off\u2019.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last December, Kerry chairman Patrick O\u2019Sullivan revealed there were two further players being scouted following Murphy\u2019s switch to Brisbane.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe players have benefitted from their GAA clubs\u2019 investment in strength and conditioning programmes as well as our own at county level,\u201d he pointed out. \u201cThey have never been physically better. I won\u2019t say they are ready-made for the switch to Australian Rules but these AFL clubs are no longer experimenting coming to Ireland. They are no longer taking a punt.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
O\u2019Sullivan continued: \u201cMickey Harte said years ago we were better off having nothing to do with the Australians. From where we sit here at the minute, it is hard to disagree. We are but a soft and easy recruiting target for the AFL and the GAA can\u2019t just pretend nothing is wrong.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n