By John Harrington

Making the grade at the highest level of sport isn’t just down to a combination of talent and hard-work.

A little luck goes a long way too and sometimes you can be the right person in the right place at the right time.

For a while there, Graham O’Sullivan must have wondered whether he’d ever catch a break like that.

A two-time All-Ireland winner at minor level, this is his fourth year as a Kerry senior panellist but in the early months of the season it looked like his chances of nailing down a regular starting place were more remote than ever.

Dan O’Donoghue was given an extended run in the team in the number two jersey for the McGrath Cup and early rounds of the League, and when he was rested for the fourth round match against Monaghan in February it was Dylan Casey who was given the nod to replace him.

But then came a sliding doors moment. O’Donoghue injured his leg when he came on as a sub against Monaghan that day and O’Sullivan was instead drafted into the starting XV for the subsequent League game against Mayo.

He’s been there ever since. Initially he played at wing-back in the matches against Armagh and Tyrone before moving back to corner-back for the League Final against Mayo in Croke Park.

He finally made his senior championship debut against Cork in the Munster semi-final, though you wouldn’t have known he was new to this level such was the maturity with which he played.

He was very reliable too in the subsequent wins over Limerick, Mayo, and Dublin, and in Dromid Pearses they’re delighted their man has finally made his mark, even if it took longer than they might have expected.

“He has, yeah, I think he's really nailed down his position there,” Dromid Pearses Club Chairperson, Micheal Ó Sé, told GAA.ie

“Always from a young age we knew he had the potential but I suppose with one thing after the next with injuries here and there and not getting the break, he couldn't get his chance.

“But when he did get the break this year he really grabbed it. We always knew that he had potential. He showed that from a very young age.

“We’re all very proud of him because he’s just a really nice, down to earth lad.

“What summed him up was one day we had a game in Dromid and he gave his time kicking around with the young lads at half-time. He's just a really, really good lad. Very sound.”

What strikes you about O’Sullivan when you watch him play is that he’s a very well coached player because all his technical skills from kick-passing to tackling are on point.

The Dromid Pearses underage academy has a knack for producing players like this, and Ó Sé believes that O’Sullivan also benefited hugely from having a coach of the quality of former Kerry U-20 manager and fellow Pearses man, Declan O’Sullivan, oversee his development in the club at senior level for a number of years.

“Declan O’Sullivan would have had a very positive influence on his development,” says Ó Sé.

“He would have had him for three years and I think that was great for Graham's development as well, to have someone of the calibre of Declan O'Sullivan in the club.

“You can see that Graham is a very well coached, he's a complete footballer. He's very athletic and his kick-passing is excellent. You can see by the way he's played for Kerry this year that he's a great man to pick out a forward.

“He has an engine on him that just allows him to go all day. He's like a Duracell Bunny that keeps going.

“He's a ferocious tackler as well, and I think that's come from Declan and Jack O'Connor's training. They both have always drilled the one hand in and he's very good at that. You can see their paw-prints all over his tackling.

“He's a clever player too. I was involved with the team as well when Declan was in charge and you could give Graham a job and he would stick to it. He would sacrifice the rest of his game for the team.”

A steady, understated character off the pitch, O’Sullivan also goes about his business on it in a very unfussy way.

He looks like he’s been playing in this Kerry team for years such is his consistency, and Ó Sé doesn’t envisage the prospect of playing in All-Ireland Final will rattle him in any way.

“He probably doesn't get the recognition for how good he is playing,” he says. “He did a great job against Dublin. Ciaran Kilkenny went in on him for a long time and he held him which is no mean feat.

“Nerves just don't get to him. He just puts the head down and does his job. Playing in an All-Ireland Final won't bother him at all.

“I was talking to his mother there earlier today when I was putting up a few posters and she was saying his attitude is that there's nothing won yet so it's just head down and stick to the basics of getting ready for the final. It won't faze him, definitely not.”