Kerry defence to come between Tyrone and title
O'Sullivan has been around the block over the course of a varied career, which saw him live in the US until 1975, before coming home to open a pub and renew his involvement with Killarney side, Dr Crokes. His son Patrick is development officer with the County Board and son-in-law Pat O'Shea is coach to the minor team, also in action in Croke Park on Sunday.
With considerable experience as a selector at all levels with Kerry, he has been associated with five All-Ireland winning senior teams, under both Mick O'Dwyer and Páidi Ó Sé.
The last time Kerry played Tyrone in the championship was in the 1986 final, a game Kerry won as a result of a strong second-half showing. "Yes, we were well down at half-time. We got a lucky break and (Pat) Spillane got a goal. It gave us the three-in-a-row."
Nearly 20 years on, he retains his enthusiasm for the game and, more pertinently, the huge commitment demanded of selectors at senior level. And, he is as ambitious as ever. "Armagh won their first title last year when they beat us, and I know Tyrone will be enthused. I have been in two losing All-Irelands in '82 and last year. I'll tell you, it's a bitter pill to swallow. We'd want to be winning one as well," he says.
Looking back on last year's final, he says it is easy to explain their downfall even if it may not have been obvious at the time. "The crowd really got behind Armagh and we didn't score when we should have, early in the second half. Things just didn't go right for us. A few fellows played below their best and we were in trouble. We'd be expecting everybody to pull their weight on Sunday," he states.
Optimistic Kerry will make it to the final, he argues they possess more experience in their squad and this gives them options all over the field. The form shown in training in the three weeks since the Roscommon game also encourages him greatly. "We feel we have prepared well. We have played an awful lot of football in training, more than we ever did, I'd say. And, I think that's going to stand to us.
"The subs will be vital for us because I feel it's going to take 20 to win the game. Tyrone have a good bench as well. We'll have to match them. And, we'll have to have our homework done before we ever go up there.
"What I felt about last year was we were glad to get the chance of coming back through the qualifier competition, but I thought we peaked a game too early. I feel we are now coming into the type of football we played last year, when we met Fermanagh, Kildare and Galway. In the Roscommon game we played like that, except we did leak goals. But that happens in games. We lost a bit of concentration.
"Tyrone had a few teething problems in the earlier rounds against Down and Derry, but their team is well settled now. And, they are after playing a lot of games, like we did last year. We expect to have Darragh Ó Sé back to his best. He missed four weeks training before the last game, but he is bound to benefit from the training he has done since. As everybody knows, Darragh is vital to our team."
Ultimately, he feels it will all come down to how their back-line operate, specifically how they cope with the twin threat from Peter Canavan and Eoin Mulligan. He says he has every confidence in them.
"If we improve and I believe we will then we'll take a bit of beating. The backs did have a bad 15 minutes the last day, maybe they started badly as well, but I have great confidence in them.
"I don't think they will let us down."
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