By William Crutcher
Norths Devils halfback Sean O’Sullivan will channel a treasured childhood grand final memory in Saturday’s Hostplus Cup decider with Burleigh Bears.
The halfback can still recall his Under 8 grand final for the Glenmore Park Brumbies against St Mary’s. O’Sullivan scored a try and kicked a goal in the Brumbies’ win.
“I remember that game quite vividly. As your first grand final it’s obviously something you remember, and as a little kid it was probably one of the best days of my life,” O’Sullivan said.
Since then, the kid from Penrith has soaked up 60 games of NRL and a further 43 Queensland Cup matches alongside a premiership in the New South Wales Cup.
But this is his first decider with a Devils team he first represented in 2019, rekindling a long association with coach Rohan Smith and Norths CEO Troy Rovelli.
O’Sullivan has played for four different NRL clubs, including Penrith with whom he was 18th man for in the 2022 NRL grand final.
He is a foundation Dolphin, representing the NRL club across its first three seasons which opened the door to play for the Devils as an affiliate club.
As a junior player, O’Sullivan reached numerous grand finals including an SG Ball Under 19 victory with Penrith.
He said he was focused on “sticking to the process” this week.
“Keep the week exactly the same. There is no special formula, just focus on the basics and don’t play the game before it is actually played, just stick to the process,” O’Sullivan said.
A premiership win for the Devils would sit well with O’Sullivan, the son of well-known NRL recruiting guru Peter O’Sullivan.
The Smith and O’Sullivan families first met at the St George Dragons where O’Sullivan’s father was working alongside Smith’s father Rohan, who was coach.
Peter O’Sullivan and Troy Rovelli worked together at the Sydney Roosters, bringing plenty of familiar faces to his days at Bishop Park.
“It means a lot with Ro [Rohan Smith] coming back and being the coach, and to win with this group would be special,” O’Sullivan said.
Smith said: “Dad and Peter have a Dragons background, Sean was 10 or 11 when I was coaching the Roosters, that was where Sean and I met, we have been having footy conversations since then.”
O’Sullivan first played in a final with the Devils in 2019 – suffering a serious knee injury in an elimination final loss to Brisbane Tigers.
That was the last time the Devils lost a final. They will take an 11-game finals winning streak into Saturday’s clash.
O’Sullivan played an important role in last Sunday’s preliminary final win over Wynnum Manly, firing the bullet pass to Jacob Gagan who pushed to Manase Kaho for the match-winning try with 65 seconds remaining.
O’Sullivan emphasised the journey that it takes for teams to reach the grand final saying all teams have a “different journey” and are ready to compete.
“It means a lot, it’s a special group of boys here, it’s a different journey to all the other ones, one that I am sure that everyone is looking forward to it,” O’Sullivan said.
O’Sullivan will be playing with the support of his parents who are coming to watch from Sydney, and his partner and daughter.
Photo by Alan Drinnen
