Weekly Times | CARAMUT’S evergreen veteran Todd O’Sullivan has no plans to hang up the boots just yet — especially since he just bought them.
The moment the 44-year-old bought a pair of white X-Blades last week, O’Sullivan’s decision to go on next season at the Mininera and District League club was sealed, according to his teammates.
“I just bought a new pair of boots,” he said. “They’re all half-price this time of year, so I couldn’t resist.
“The big talk on Saturday was, ‘Looks like Todd’s going to play again so he can finish off another pair.’ ”
It was another purchase, fittingly, that first led O’Sullivan to the Swans’ door.
He relocated from Melbourne after buying a farm on Caramut’s outskirts, but didn’t expect to still be playing more than a decade later.
“I love the club,” he said. “But when we first moved here, I only wanted to play one or two more years just to meet the locals ... and one or two years has turned into 11.”
In fact, before his 141 games at Caramut to date, the ageless midfielder spent time playing across Victoria and South Australia, including another 140 games at Victorian Amateur Football Association club Richmond Central.
“My last game there was meant to be my retirement game. They carried me off,” O’Sullivan said.
He put his longevity down to training hard and a lucky run without injuries.
Like a fine wine, O’Sullivan seems to be getting better with age. Last year he finished fifth in the league best-and-fairest, and in his 14 outings this season has only been outside the Swans’ best on four occasions.
Caramut has not played finals since 2008, when O’Sullivan was playing coach of the side.
After seven years in that role, he stepped away at the end of 2012 to give the club a “fresh pair of eyes”.
He said one of his career highlights to date was overseeing the Swans’ 2007 finals push, the same year he won the league best-and-fairest.
“We made the preliminary final that season, and we were only a couple of goals away from making a grand final with an extremely young list,” he said.
Caramut, under first-year coach Damian Jones, sits eighth on the league ladder with six wins and eight losses.
Jones was thrust into the role due to a lack of applicants, but said he would vacate the job at season’s end if the Swans could attract a “bigger name” with more experience.
Jones said O’Sullivan, along with Caramut captain Adam Lehmann, had been an invaluable “sounding board” in the sink-or-swim environment of senior coaching.
“Without trying to embarrass him too much, he’s sort of like a father figure to everyone at the club,” Jones said of O’Sullivan.
“This club is much better for having him here.”
