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A Ton of PerseveranceBy Steve BarrettChad O’Sullivan takes three pregamepain-killing tablets just toget him through matchday, spendsmore time with the physio than he’dcare for and has undergone fouroperations in his left leg inside thepast two years.And yet in his mind, the 27-year-oldon-baller/small forward feels like afresh-faced rookie and can barelycontain his excitement.“I feel like it’s my first year at the Dogsagain,” said O’Sullivan, who thisafternoon against Norwood will runout for his landmark 100th Leagueappearance for Central District.“I’m all excited for the Finals and amactually a bit nervous running outonto AAMI Stadium.”Victory in O’Sullivan’s milestonematch would see Central qualify forits 12th straight Grand Final, afterwhat would be an unprecedented12-0 run in Second Semi-Finals.O’Sullivan’s major round fortuneshave been more mixed than most ofhis teammates.After playing in the unsuccessful2006 decider against the Eagles,he triumphed in 2007-08 beforesuffering a horrific broken leg in the2009 Grand Final against Sturt,forcing him to watch last year’sthriller from the sidelines.“I had 11 possessions in the first21 minutes and felt so good out there– I was really enjoying myself,”O’Sullivan said of that fatefulafternoon against the Double Bluesalmost 24 months ago.“Then this accident happened that Ihad no control over.”An incidental collision withteammate Scotty Dutschke causedO’Sullivan’s left leg to break in threeplaces, requiring the insertion of ametal rod in his leg and screws in hisknee and ankle.Further operations to removethe screws and clean out the anklebone, where a large chip wasdiscovered, drastically stymiedO’Sullivan’s progress.“Last year I had a crack at powerwalking 20 laps around the oval andthen tried jogging without a limp, butI was in a lot of pain,” he said.“I had setbacks at every step.”Persistent obstacles preventedO’Sullivan from launching anambitious 2010 comeback, which headmits he was “kidding myself toexpect anyway”… but not throughlack of effort.He spent much of 2010 in thecapable massaging hands of DanielBell, who assisted greatly withO’Sullivan’s recovery, and under thewing of boxing coach BradTownsend, who helped the 2010Norm Russell Medallist regainhis fitness.O’Sullivan also spent time in SouthAfrica, cheering Australia on in theFIFA World Cup, an experience hedescribed as “amazing… the bestthing to ever happen to me”, beforeflying home and trying his hand atphotography for The Advertiser,taking a series of behind-the-scenessnaps of Central’s Finals preparations.The nippy goalsneak’s expectationswere ultra-conservative when hemade his long-awaited comeback toLeague ranks against the Eagles inApril, after spending 587 agonisingdays stranded on 84 games.Following a brief stint in theChad O’ Sullivanseconds, he struggled to reach astandard anywhere near his previousform, before slowly his expectationsand output rose in unison.“Initially I was happy to get througha game and get one kick,” he said.“But in the back of my mind it wasreally frustrating that I couldn’t getback to a level I was at previously.“Now I’m back to analysing myperformances again.“It took six weeks before I startedseeing any improvement, but now myfitness and skills are improving eachweek.“I’m hopeful of making amends forlast year which was so frustratingand disappointing, and really lookingforward to feeling part of it again.”5