O’Sullivan: When everyone is firing, we can put it up to anyone

Defender turned forward insists capital’s hurlers can ‘drive on’ for the summer

When Dublin won the 2016 Leinster MHC title, Cian O’Sullivan of St Brigid’s played at centre-back. Through the years, that was his orbit until a casual discussion with Ger Cunningham altered the course of his career early the following year.

Drafted onto the senior squad straight out of minor, O’Sullivan recalls the Dublin senior manager taking him aside in early January 2017.

“It was actually a funny conversation the day before a Walsh Cup game. Ger was like, ‘Cian, I’m going to play you in corner-back,’ and I just put the foot down and said, ‘Ger, to be honest with you now, I’ve never played corner-back in my life,’ and he was, ‘Where then?’ and I said, ‘Sure put me in corner-forward’.”

He scored a goal against Carlow in an opening-round win and began his reinvention as a forward.

Hefty

In that first year, he had his first championship start in the qualifiers against Laois, scoring 0-3, and was also selected in the next round against Tipperary in Thurles, which ended with a hefty 22-point defeat despite his 1-1 contribution.

“It was a big change,” he says, “compared to growing up playing with lads your own age and all of a sudden you are in the same dressing room as Liam Rushe and Gary Maguire. Never mind the amount of experience they had, but just the sheer size of the lads when you are 18 years old going in there with lads who are in there 10, 12 years.”

Cunningham’s departure as manager paved the way for a surprise replacement in Pat Gilroy for 2018. O’Sullivan didn’t play any championship hurling that year, his season hampered by recurring back problems.

He missed out on 2019 and 2020 due to travel and academic commitments (he completed a degree in Trinity College in geology), meaning that, with another championship blank in 2022, he has missed four of Dublin’s championship campaigns since he first got on the team.

While travelling, he still managed to return for his club, who reached the county SHC final in 2019, losing by four points to Cuala. On his inter-county return in 2021, O’Sullivan started in the first championship match against Antrim, scoring 1-2, and played in the Leinster final loss to Kilkenny. He finished up with 0-3 against Cork when Dublin exited in the All-Ireland quarter-finals.

“I didn’t have the best scoring record, but then last year, I felt I gained confidence,” he states. “The game starts to slow down for you when you’ve a couple of years under the belt. Lads started trusting you more. I definitely think putting time in with the same lads on the pitch is a big aspect of being in the forwards. Lads have to trust you, you have to trust them.

“Then this year I’m scoring reasonably well, and hopefully, that will continue over the next few weeks.”

Last year, he was excellent in the opening-round win over Antrim and scored 1-1 in the two-point win over Wexford in Croke Park that helped them qualify from the group. A goalscorer in the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final win over Carlow, O’Sullivan compiled 0-11, including 10 frees, in the heavy loss to Clare in the quarter-final that followed, taking over the free-taking duties from Donal Burke when he went off injured.

Dublin open their Leinster Championship campaign on Sunday with a match away to Wexford, which might decide who fills third place in the group if the form of recent years is to be maintained where Kilkenny and Galway have led the way.

Last year, he says, was a mixed bag, with a new management and a huge influx of new players. “Every team is going to find it tough when they’ve 10, 15 new lads in their first season on board. There’s a bit of weight put on the lads that have been there for the years before. It’s tough for the young lads coming in and they’re getting to understand what an inter-county set-up is like.

“This year, I definitely think lads are far more settled with regards to knowing their role and knowing how the team operates, knowing what’s expected, so I mean, we’ ll see now in the next few weeks .”

Dublin ended up losing their Division 1A status, with Wexford taking the seventh place available in the top tier in 2025. Despite that, O’Sullivan feels they’re well prepared for Sunday’s assignment.

“I think there’s confidence there in the camp when everyone is firing and everyone is doing what they’re expected to do, we can put it up to anyone.

“We’ve had a few very good challenge games in the last couple of weeks. We’ve had a few very good training sessions – a bit of bite to them. That’s all that’s needed really to drive on for the championship.”