Saddington and Kennelly to join SUANFC
AFL NSW/ACT and the Sydney University Australian National Football Club (SUANFC) are pleased to announce the appointment of Jason Saddington and Tadhg Kennelly as Elite Skills Acquisition Coaches for the club’s NEAFL team.
Kennelly and Saddington will provide elite level coaching to an identified group of development players in addition to the NEAFL playing group at Sydney University each week beginning July 18.
SUANFC President Chas Wilkinson said both coaches will bring a unique set of high-level skills to the club.
“We are ecstatic at the appointment of Tadhg and Jason, both have extensive AFL experience and recent experience coaching elite level development and representative players,” he said.
“Tadhg is a fantastic communicator and having come to the AFL as an elite level Gaelic footballer, learning the game from the ground up, he is extremely well positioned to up skill development players.
“Jason understands the Sydney AFL football landscape and his experience across two national AFL Clubs and now as the U18 RAMS Coach will bring immense value to our development players.”
Sydney University is currently in its inaugural year of competition in the NEAFL Eastern Conference, the elite second-tier Australian football league played across NSW and the ACT.
In 2012, the club expanded its High Performance Program to include a team of Strength and Conditioning, Nutritional and Sports Psychology staff.
SUANFC High Performance Manager Daniel Gilmore said the club’s focus was on producing elite footballers.
“Our club is committed to player development and we place high importance on recruiting elite coaches who will execute strategies to improve the overall level of the club over the long term,” he said.
Jason Saddington is the State Coach for NSW/ACT and has previously played for the Sydney Swans and Carlton Blues AFL clubs. Tadhg Kennelly played 197 games for the Sydney Swans and was a premiership winning player in 2005. Kennelly is the coach of the Under-16 NSW/ACT RAMS side, and is part of the AIS/AFL program as a coach and mentor.
