Return To Ireland and All-Ireland Title
Upon returning to Kerry, Kennelly was given a job as a coaching officer by the Kerry County Board.
He played his first competitive game for the Kerry Senior team on 8 March 2009 when he came on as a substitute in the NFL against Derry, and there was speculation that he would be a member of the Kerry squad for the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. He went on to win a National Football League medal when Kerry beat Derry in the final in Croke Park. As Kerry had a number of injuries meaning that Darragh Ó Sé, Anthony Maher, Séamus Scanlon and Kieran Donaghy were all short of full fitness, Kennelly played in Kerry's first two games of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in June. He picked up an injury during the qualifier series but his form continued to improve and after an impressive appearance as a substitute in the All-Ireland quarter-final against Dublin, he broke into to the starting team for the semi-final in which Kerry beat Meath. On 20 September 2009 he played the first 50 minutes of the All-Ireland final, scoring 2 points and becoming the first person to win an AFL premiership and an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. After the final Kennelly committed himself to the Kerry football team for the 2010 season, despite speculation that he was returning to Australia.
In October 2009 he published his autobiography, Unfinished Business, ghost written with Scotty Gullen. The book sparked controversy when a paragraph claimed that he setting out to make his mark at the start of the All-Ireland by deliberately colliding with Nicholas Murphy. After a big backlash, Kennelly released a statement where he stated he was taken out of context by his ghost writer.
In November 2009, Kennelly informed the Kerry county board of his intention to return to the AFL in 2010.
Read more about this topic: Tadhg Kennelly
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