Under the Auld Pump: Passionate Hawks supporter finds joy in sport

AT A GLANCE

Born in Warrnambool on May 14, 1965.

Wife: Narelle.

Parents: John and Kathleen. Siblings: Pat and Melissa.

Education: St Marcellus Primary School before going to Warrnambool's CBC until year 11 and I spent one year at TAFE.

Sporting highlight: Would have to be back in 1989. I'm a passionate Hawthorn supporter. I was there when Dermott Brereton knocked out Essendon backman Paul Vander Haar in a semi-final at the old Waverley oval.

What are your memories of that day when Brereton knocked out Vander Haar?

It was a huge day. I'll never forget it and the thing I really have vivid memories about was when Dermott shirt-fronted Vander Haar. I reckon we were 40 yards away from the incident but the almighty crack sounded like it was right next to us. Vander Haar later came back onto the ground.

He would not be allowed to come back on the ground under the concussion rules that are in place today.

Do you go to many Hawthorn games now?

It's been a fair while since I've been to games because of work commitments but I tend to keep a close eye on Hawthorn games when they're playing on the television.

Did your family have a farm in Purnim?

Yes. We're the sixth generation O'Sullivan family that has been on the farm. We used to milk cows on the farm but it stopped being a dairy farm in 2006. My memories of going to school at St Marcellus in Purnim centre around my time in grade six. It would have been in 1976 and there were 36 students in total but only seven students were in grade six. There were six boys: Terry Beks, Rod McKenzie, David Beasley, Alan Hickey, Terence Ryan and myself while Marcia Eccles was the only girl in the class.

I take it that part of the school curriculum would have been to play sport. Did you play much sport?

Yes. I played a bit of sport at school and also played on weekends. I would have been seven years old when I started playing junior cricket with Purnim. We had some very good players including Terry Beks who was a gun cricketer and he proved that later in life with his achievements in higher level cricket. We won a string of flags in the junior grades under coaches like John O'Connor senior and Henry Askew.

I went on to play in the B grade competition with players like Alan Sawyer, Darby Lee, Bill McKellar and Frank Kelly. I wasn't much of a cricketer but my mate Gerard Eccles enticed my to join Nestles in 1993. I played in the B grade with Nestles Cricket Club.

They were and still are a great club. They are a really family-oriented club. My personal highlights playing cricket for Nestles are I made 78 runs in one game and got five wickets in another game. My cricket career with Nestles Cricket Club came to a halt when I started driving milk tankers for Nestles. I drove tankers for them for 12 years. One sport which I really enjoyed was badminton.

How did it come about that you started playing badminton?

A few of the young blokes from out at Purnim were interested in the sport so I joined up with a side in the Warrnambool Badminton Association. I can still remember Peter Meade was a very good player and so was Warrnambool's former mayor Michael Neoh. Michael's father Francis was a champion badminton player.

We represented Warrnambool in badminton tournaments at places like Bendigo, Millicent and Wangaratta. They were wonderful times. We used to play badminton in Warrnambool on Friday nights, Terang on Wednesday nights and Camperdown on Tuesday nights. They were extremely competitive games.

Purnim was a very tight knit community in my younger days. The church used to have an annual race day in at Warrnambool and all the local families would get involved. They would all help out with various jobs. My dad John had a stint as president of the club so did people like Ray Eccles, Des Ryan and Pat Walsh to name just a few.

Mick, have you taken part in any other sports?

I'm a member of the Warrnambool Olympic Pistol Club. I've been involved with the club for more than 20 years. The club has over 40 members and they have a shoot out at Woolsthorpe every Saturday. The key to being good at the sport is to have good hand and eye co-ordination. I'm pretty passionate about flashy cars. I've involved with a couple of car clubs and I really enjoy that involvement. Our lives changed around in 1999.

Can you explain how things changed around for your family in 1999?

I'll never forget we were at home out at Purnim one night and John our dad made the announcement to the family that he had purchased a business in Fairy Street. My brother Pat and I were really excited we said it was great that John had purchased the Cally Hotel.

The old man took a deep breath and said he hadn't purchased the Cally Hotel. John went on to say he was taking over Leahy's. Pat and I said why did he want to buy the Retravison store because we never knew much about televisions and other hi-tech stuff. John ended up saying he had purchased Leahy's funeral home.

I think you can imagine the family was in total shock that John at the tender age of 60 was now in control of John O'Sullivan and family funeral parlour. My sister Melissa and I have worked in the family-owned business for a fair few years now.

I would take it would be a daunting job working in the funeral business?

We can say it has its challenges but on the other hand it's very rewarding. It's a very important role in the community. We're dealing with people who are facing the toughest times of their lives as they are talking about a funeral for their loved ones. The job has its moments as you could be burying someone you might know or a friend. I have to say the toughest ones to deal with are with young children and suicides but in saying that I've got to say Melissa and I try our best to offer whatever support and assistance we can offer for the grieving families.