AMID ALL THE talk around Stephen Cluxton’s future with Dublin, another eight-time All-Ireland winner announced his retirement this week.  

Injuries forced Kilmacud Crokes defender Cian O’Sullivan to hang up his boots and his influence on the Sky Blues over the last decade can’t be overstated. 

In the wake of the shock defeat to Donegal in 2014, Cian O’Sullivan redefined the centre-back role as Jim Gavin addressed their defensive frailties and set the team up to dominate since 2015. 

Speaking on this week’s episode of The42 GAA Weekly, Kerry legend Marc Ó Sé paid tribute to O’Sullivan after his remarkable career drew to a close.  

“He was a great player it has to be said. I’m just going to say also his mother and father are from Kerry so that’s important to say as well,” Ó Sé said. 

“The key thing with Cian O’Sullivan is he was intelligent, he had a brain, he knew exactly where to position himself. I don’t think there was much a manager had to tell him what to do. As a sweeper he knew where to stand on the ‘D’, when to make contact, when to double up and when to push out.

“The one thing from a Kerry point of view we did was try to engage him as a centre-forward. I remember one fella who always gave him a bit of difficult was Darran O’Sullivan because when Darren used to come off the bench he’d run at you. That in turn would make him come out a small bit from that sweeper zone to meet Darran.

“We certainly did spend a bit of time on him. That’s the beauty of this Dublin team, so many players you would spend time looking at. The likes of Fenton, Cluxton and Cian O’Sullivan definitely fits in there. He was just a fantastic footballer. 

“Unfortunately time waits for no man and injuries took control at the end. So disappointing for him but what a career he’s had. To finish with eight All-Ireland medals, unbelievable.”

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