GAA: Ciarán Kilkenny has signed professional terms with Australian Rules club Hawthorn. The Dublin teenager recently spent a brief trial period with the eastern Melbourne franchise, who face the Sydney Swans in Saturday’s AFL Grand Final, instead of the Carlton Blues, who had been courting him for almost two years.
Kilkenny made the immediate transition from the minor football ranks to the under-21s and into Pat Gilroy’s senior panel this season, starting the All-Ireland semi-final against Mayo as a replacement for the injured Alan Brogan.
He featured in both All-Ireland minor finals last year, losing on both occasions, but won an under-21 All-Ireland football title earlier this summer. It is believed that the 19-year-old has agreed a two year contract with the Hawks.
Meanwhile, Kerry’s Tommy Walsh has been omitted from the Swans 22-man Grand Final squad. The GAA young footballer of the year in 2008 signed for St Kilda in 2009 before switching to Sydney this season but has, as yet, been unable to make the transfer from Gaelic football to the smaller oval ball.
Walsh has been named on Sydney's three-man emergency list but is not expected to feature.
