By Joel Gould
A flood on Wayne Bennett’s farm during Magic Round last year scuppered the most important rugby league meeting in Sean O’Sullivan’s life, but it couldn’t stop him joining the Dolphins.
The 24-year-old halfback is set to play his first game in Dolphins colours in the NRL Pre-Season Challenge clash with Gold Coast at Redcliffe on Sunday, after telling AAP of the remarkable meeting that secured him to the club.
‘He makes me feel special’: Sean O’Sullivan talks tactics with Wayne Bennett during a Dolphins training session at Kayo Stadium. Credit:Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images
Brisbane received a month’s worth of average May rain in a day on the eve of last year’s Magic Round kicking off, and fans wore snorkels to Suncorp Stadium.
O’Sullivan was at the Penrith team’s hotel and had a meeting scheduled with Bennett about his playing future in a nearby cafe.
“I thought we were going to meet for a couple of hours at a city cafe but then Wayne phoned and said it was off,” O’Sullivan said.
“He said he wasn’t going to be able to make it because he got flooded-in on his farm out near Warwick.”
It was the worst possible news and there was a silence on the phone, as there often is with Bennett. But the coach had some good news.
“Wayne then said, ‘Let’s do it now’. So we had a 40-minute chat on the phone,” O’Sullivan grinned.
“I actually went and sat under a Brisbane bridge because there was no reception at our hotel.
Halfback O’Sullivan enjoyed a career-defining season at Penrith in 2022 as Nathan Cleary’s understudy, but he hopes to be the main man at the Dolphins.Credit:Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images
“I left that conversation knowing he was the right coach for me.
“He spoke about the things he wanted me to work on if I was going to come to the Dolphins, and the second thing we spoke about was life, really.”
O’Sullivan had previously been coached by Bennett, for 24 hours at the Broncos before he was sacked.
“Yes, I had one single day of being coached by Wayne at the Broncos,” O’Sullivan recalled.
“So as you can imagine, to have him as coach here is special. I’d explain it this way: Some people say they care, but he cares.
“There is a difference, and you feel that difference. When you talk to him and he responds, it is like he is talking right into you.
“He makes me feel special. That’s the impact he has on me and the boys here. We really want to play for him.”
O’Sullivan enjoyed a career-defining NRL season at Penrith in 2022 as Nathan Cleary’s understudy, but at the Dolphins he will be the main man.
“I am trying to find my feet as an NRL player and I need to be earning everyone’s respect,” he said.
“Hopefully I will do that when I play and I also need to do that with how I train. Every halfback is going to have to talk on the field. It is something I am passionate about and I will try my best to deliver.”
– AAP
