Brutal rugby league reality of Sean O’Sullivan’s star-studded upbringing
Sean O’Sullivan was grew up around the most respected names in footy, but his own NRL journey has been anything but easy.
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Sean O’Sullivan had the kind of upbringing any aspiring NRL player would kill for, but so far he hasn’t had the luck to match it.
The son of one of rugby league’s biggest recruitment agents, Peter O’Sullivan, Sean spent his childhood in the inner sanctum of NRL clubs, watching spit fly from Craig Bellamy’s mouth during halftime speeches and hearing hushed words of wisdom uttered by Trent Robinson.
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He was there the day his dad spotted a teenager named Latrell Mitchell at a local game on the Central Coast and signed him to the Roosters.
He saw it all. He knew what clubs were looking for and had connections to the right people to talk to about it.
But the biggest lesson this priceless upbringing taught him was the role good fortune plays in an NRL career, and how quickly things can spiral when it runs out.
So now at 23, he’s hellbent on making his own luck.
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O’Sullivan had thought it once before but again at 21, he felt like his career was over.
The first time he wondered if his body would let him play rugby league for a living, he was just 12 years old.
He’d suffered his second ACL tear in two years; the first came when he was 10, playing Oztag, then it happened again in a game for the Glenmore Park Brumbies.
Medical research in recent years has children accounting for only about 3-5 per cent of all ACL tears, with the injury far more prevalent in adults and athletes.
O’Sullivan was too young to think his career would be over already, but even Peter had his doubts.
“I knew he could have an NRL career if he wanted it ever since he was probably five or six,” the veteran recruiter says.
“He used to watch under-20s videos with me with the sound off when he was a baby, so I think he was probably always destined to go down that path.
“He had a few bad injuries when he was a young fella. I probably thought his body wasn’t going to let him play at that level.
“It was horrible, the second one especially. The second one, I remember him saying he couldn’t go through it again. It was tough at the time. I told him he didn’t have to play footy to be successful, you’ve just got to be happy, we can get your coaching certificate or referee certificate. He just said he couldn’t do it again.
“The next day I went to the hospital to see him and he said, ‘You know what I said yesterday? I was only joking’. So he got over it pretty quickly.”
But it turned out he could do it again.
O’Sullivan’s third knee reconstruction came when he was 21, having just recovered from a hamstring injury before he did his ACL in the final game of Brisbane’s 2019 season.
It was the worst timing. He was isolated away from the playing group, with no routine, and without his NSW-based parents.
“That was probably one of the toughest times of my life,” Sean says.
“I genuinely thought I might not ever play again. I was 21, I’d only played five or six NRL games and I thought, ‘This is not how I want it to end’. It was daunting, for sure.
“It was the last game of the season and I thought, ‘How am I even going to get back to playing?’ It was probably my worst nightmare come true.”
But like he’s always done, O’Sullivan found a lesson in it. Persistently positive, he’s always looking for the silver lining.
“It was the time I found out the most about myself,” he says.
“I found out that I’m a resilient kid and I’m pretty dedicated. I worked hard to get back and even play, I played a couple of games at the back end of the 2020 season after having four weeks of training and not playing a game before, so I definitely know that if I have something and I want it, I know I can do it.”
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Sitting in that hospital bed aged 12, O’Sullivan decided he needed a back-up plan.
Rugby league is littered with cautionary tales of spoiled talent and bouts of bad luck turning promise into pain.
For every superstar, there’s a more talented player who didn’t make it.
Peter is credited with discovering Greg Inglis, Latrell Mitchell and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, but also countless others who didn’t bloom. He made sure his son knew both sides of that story.
“I’ve seen through him that not everyone makes it,” Sean says.
“Even if you’re 16 and the best player, you’ve not a given to make it. It’s luck, injuries, even being in the right situation. So much needs to fall in your favour.
“Now I’m studying a bachelor of business and majoring in sports management. I would love to either do what my dad does one day, or be a coach, but I’m not too sure which one yet.”
For now at least, he fits in with the coaches, asking too many questions, just as he did when he was little. Always curious, always learning.
“He’s just a good sensible kid, he’s probably more sensible than I am,” Peter says.
“He had a great footy education, he probably saw people come and go all the time as part of that.
“He sat through every Craig Bellamy speech, every Trent Robinson speech, every Brian Smith speech. He had the keys to the city.
“He was a bit of a sponge as a kid, he just absorbed everything.
“Asked a million questions, often too many questions. Growing up around it, he saw all the highs and lows. He’s just a sensible kid, he did really well at school. From a young age, he knew that’s the path he wanted to take and he’s been really centred about it.”
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O’Sullivan is bright and confident, with the air of unfulfilled promise about him.
The young halfback has returned to his junior club Penrith for 2022; his fourth NRL club in five years, after short stints at the Roosters, Broncos and Warriors.
There is no starting position available at the Panthers, with premiership and Origin-winning halves at the helm. O’Sullivan is instead planning to play the part of a sponge once more as back-up for Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai, and planning to take his time with it.
“I feel like you can’t rush any process,” he explains of his decision to leave the Warriors, where he played 12 games last year for five wins. So far, he has 21 games to his name since debuting in 2018.
“Learning a really good system … it was a no-brainer,” he says.
“I had the chance to stay but when my manager said that Penrith were keen, I told him to drop everything and get it done. I’m just so excited to learn.
“You just watched them win the comp and you see how they play and the love they have for the jersey.
“To think I could be a part of that, I was so excited.”
His dad finds players and puts them into an NRL system for a living, so he knows it’s the right move for Sean.
“It’s imperative that if he gets 12 games at a strong club, it’ll stabilise his future. Then he can find a club that either gives him a starting spot or he becomes comfortable with that role. A strong club is important,” Peter says.
“Last year [at the Warriors], he was in and out a little bit and sometimes home is home.”
O’Sullivan is now living with his mum Theresa just five minutes from the Penrith academy, reuniting with SG Ball and Harold Matts teammates Brian To’o and Mitch Kenny, among others.
He saw how important the relationship was between Penrith’s homegrown players for the 2021 premiership and he wants in.
“I’ve noticed a difference in his voice, there’s some pep in it,” Peter says.
“If he gets a few games through injury or through the rep stuff with Nathan and Jarome out ... hopefully he finds his niche and gets a bit of luck and he’ll be on his way.”
From the get-go, O’Sullivan knows he’s a back-up half; which, ironically, is the reason he left to join the Roosters all those years ago. The path wasn’t as clear then, but now it is. He still has more to learn.
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Originally published as Brutal rugby league reality of Sean O’Sullivan’s star-studded upbringing
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