Former AFL player Colm Begley said Kerry have a right to feel ‘aggrieved’ about the drain of star talent to Australia but counts himself lucky that he got the opportunity.
Begley spent four years in the AFL with Brisbane Lions and St Kilda before returning home in late 2009 to play for Laois for a dozen years.
Geelong star Mark O’Connor, who underlined his Gaelic football ability by starring for All-Ireland club SFC winners Dingle over the winter, along with fellow Kerry natives Cillian Burke (Geelong), Rob Monahan (Carlton) and Ben Murphy (Brisbane), are all currently contracted to AFL clubs.
All-Ireland-winning Kerry manager Jack O’Connor complained over Christmas that the AFL ‘are getting away light’ without compensating GAA units for special talents.
“Kerry are probably right to be aggrieved,” said Begley, a two-time Electric Ireland Sigerson Cup winner who was speaking ahead of this evening’s final between UCC and UL.
“But I see it from a few angles. Obviously, I see it from a few angles because I was very fortunate to go over there and have the experience I did. I wouldn’t change it. I’ve been very lucky with it and it’s probably given me some avenues into different things since.
“But Kerry, they’re right to be aggrieved, obviously losing high talent. Mayo could be losing high talent as well (with Kobe McDonald). For top tier teams, it could be the difference between All-Ireland success and not having All-Ireland success.
“As a Laois man, we’d love to have had Zach Tuohy with us but I’m also very proud and delighted to have seen him make a career out of the sport. He should be looked after, he and his family, for life.
“For any player to get an opportunity to do that…like, I think Kerry, or Mayo, or whoever it might be, although they’ll be sad, they’ll be wishing those players the best. People mightn’t agree with me on that, they might say: ‘There’s not a hope they would be (hoping the players succeed)’ but I think most do.
“Down the line, if you can see a fella making a career for himself in a professional sport, you know it’s going to be a positive for him. And who knows, maybe Mark O’Connor comes back in a year or two and helps Kerry win another one.”
