Retirement never an option for Dubs’ veteran O’Sullivan
THE departure lounge has witnessed heavier than usual traffic over the last 12 months but Cian O’Sullivan was one man who wasn’t ready to leave the Dublin GAA terminal just yet. For O’Sullivan, the point of no return will become obvious whenever it does manifest.
But as Dublin experience an exodus of unprecedented proportions – Bernard Brogan, Eoghan O’Gara, Jack McCaffrey, Darren Daly and Diarmuid Connolly as well as manager Jim Gavin all exiting since last year’s All-Ireland – O’Sullivan is relishing in a protracted injury-free spell, coming off what he acknowledges has been one of the most enjoyable club campaigns he has experienced.
A fifth successive medal to add to the two he had won previously may have been the perfect time to bookend a stellar Dublin career but limited involvement in the last three All-Ireland finals (including last year’s replay) has perhaps left him with something more to chase.
“The rest was definitely welcome and I think I used the time well to shore up some of the injuries that had been niggling and hindering me for the last couple of years,” he said. “I didn’t take part in our club campaign last year but I did a
good pre-season before the pandemic. I continued that through lockdown and played the club campaign this time.”
Retirement, he insists, wasn’t given a second thought. “It’s not something that ever dropped into my head. I think when that time comes it will be very obvious to me and it wasn’t then,” he said of those weeks and months that followed last year’s All-Ireland replay win over Kerry, securing the five-in-a-row.
“After a long campaign like that, I always want to step away from football in any year after we finish, whether we won an All-Ireland or not. And once the club finishes up, I just want to hang up my boots for a month or two and consider it. When the time came around again, when I got the call from Dessie to go training again, there wasn’t a second thought for me.
“If you trace down through the years,
there has certainly been more (retirements) in the last 12 months than there has been in previous years. But there has always been a rejuvenation and recycling of personnel in the team. It’s no different, what we have tried to create is an environment and culture there that continues and lives on, regardless of the personnel that are in the team.”
O’Sullivan’s personal circumstances have changed too. His wife Danielle gave birth to their first child, Bonnie, in April, not long after the country had all but shut down to suppress the early stages of the coronavirus. By his reckoning, he’s now the only father in the current Dublin squad.
“Even those first couple of weeks where it’s (a case of ) just batten down the hatches and it’s survival mode with the new baby, I was at home the whole time and there was no training going on,” the Kilmacud Crokes defender reflects. “I was lucky that those two periods aligned. This year it’s unique and it’s probably an advantage in that respect for me because I am getting a bit more time at home and a little bit more flexibility around work, sport and personal life than I might not have in previous times.”
The latest departure – Connolly’s retirement last week – takes a great talent from the dressing-room but also, according to O’Sullivan, a leader.
“I don’t need to tell anyone how great a footballer he was. That’s plain to see. What people didn’t see and what probably went unnoticed was his leadership within the dressing room and the group,” he explains. “He was a key figure in establishing this group’s identity. I think that is something that he has left there in the changing room and something that will live on even though he is gone from the team.”
Gone, but never forgotten.