Sydney Swans great Tadhg Kennelly has been appointed as the new Head Coach of the GIANTS Academy.

Kennelly played 197 games for the Swans over 10 seasons in the red and white, including the 2005 premiership.

Since his retirement at the end of the 2011 season, Kennelly worked with the AFL identifying international talent and working as an Assistant Coach in the AFL Academy before joining AFL NSW/ACT as the State Head Coach.

Kennelly returned to the Swans as a Development Coach for season 2018, before stepping into the role of Defence Coach until 2020.

GIANTS Head of Academies – and former Swans teammate – Jason Saddington welcomed Kennelly to the orange and charcoal.

“We’re thrilled to appoint Tadhg to the role of Head Coach of our Academy programs,” Saddington said.

“With Cam Bernasconi departing to head up the AFLW program, a role opened up to work with some of the best young talent in our Academy region and we identified Tadhg as the ideal candidate.

“He brings a wealth of experience in the coaching space and across his AFL career he showed an incredible determination and ability to learn and understand the game.

“We’re excited to have a player and coach of the calibre of Tadhg join our club and he’s excited to get started.”

Kennelly begins with the GIANTS this week.