Former Sydney Swans stars Ted Richards and Tadhg Kennelly were last week inducted into the UNSW Sports Hall of Fame.

Richards, who retired from football at the end of 2016, donated a signed Swans guernsey to the university in recognition of this honour.

“I was very excited when I first moved to Sydney,” Richards said as he collected his medallion. “One of the first things I wanted to do when I arrived was continue my study.

“I got to meet Helen Bryson (UNSW Elite Athlete Program Manager) very quickly and worked out that I could enrol at UNSW.”

Richards also thanked the university for its support of elite athletes, as well as the Swans for encouraging him to complete his study and pursue a career beyond football.

Meanwhile, Kennelly, now a development coach at the Swans, was unable to attend the event due to commitments in Ireland, but his medallion was accepted on his behalf by Sydney coach John Longmire, who unfortunately declined to re-enact Kennelly’s famous Irish jig from the 2005 Grand Final.

Longmire spoke about the challenges Kennelly faced in relocating to the other side of the world as a young man to play a completely different sport at the elite level.

Longmire also emphasised the support the Club had for players who were studying, noting 90 per cent of the current crop of Swans players either work or study outside football.

“It’s a really key element to having a balanced person, which in turn turns into a balanced and great athlete,” Longmire said.

“Thank you to everyone who has been involved in Tadhg’s career from the study side. He really appreciates that.

“He appreciates the work the university has done and continues to do in the very tricky balance between managing elite sport and still continuing to study.”

The UNSW Sports Hall of Fame was launched in 2003 to honour UNSW students and staff, past or present, who have achieved success at the highest level of sporting competition or made a significant impact on community, country and/or the sporting world.

There are currently 23 members, including Australia’s 1991 Rugby World Cup winning coach Bob Dwyer and three-time Ashes winning cricket captain Mark Taylor.

The lunch also included a panel discussion between Dwyer and two other Hall of Fame members, Alex Blackwell (cricket) and George Peponis (rugby league), on the state of Australian sport and the impact professionalism is having on today’s athletes.

All three emphasised the importance of balance in a player’s life and the contribution study can make toward achieving that balance and transitioning to a post-sporting life.