"The meeting we had a few weeks ago, the penny has dropped and players said their pieces," O'Brien admitted to reporters at training on Thursday. "There's been a real coming together and we want to make sure that we can keep on performing and be out there on the pitch, which is all it's about, as long as possible now.
"Not everyone is going to be here next year. We've got a real opportunity to make a statement, to do something together. I think we're determined to continue what we've got for as long as possible. I think it is a special dressing room and it's certainly one I've enjoyed being part of this year. Long may it continue."
It's all part of the right culture that Robinson wants to instil at the club. You'll always have pissed off players, not happy at not getting more playing time, but it's how they carry themselves with their teammates at training and behind closed doors that is the true mark of what the dressing room harmony is.
You could kick lumps out of them (cough, Omar Salgado) or you could realise that the coach is making what he feels is the best decision for the team and you change his mind with your abilities on the training pitch.
Of course, the big culture at the Whitecaps this season has been some Argentine, Chilean and Uruguayan Latino flair. Matias Laba is cited by many players as being the joker of the locker room, but the others aren't too far behind.
"The South American boys that we've brought in are the life and soul of the dressing room. They keep chanting my name for some reason, I don't know why it is!", O'Brien laughed.
"I don't know if you get a feel of it out there in training but behind closed doors they're the life and soul of the party. Even though some of them have not played as much as they would have wanted to, they're still supportive of the players.
"And although he's not South American, Sam [Adekugbe]. I don't know if you noticed but when we scored recently the smile on his face epitomises what the team is about. He'd have liked to have played more than he has done, but he's as happy as anybody when we score and we win.
"I think to have that in a young boy and to have that in huge amounts with the South American boys, it's infectious."
You saw it on Monday when the players joined supporters on the bleachers during training at UBC on Monday to sing Carl Robinson 'Happy Birthday'
That singing and chanting certainly seems to be a key part of the team camaraderie. And the whole team spirit thing is something we've talked about before.
Russell Teibert was another player to talk about the "special" locker room atmosphere yesterday, sharing a tale of what last week's trip to Seattle was like.
"The bus ride down to Seattle is just something I'll never forget," Teibert told reporters. "It was an unbelievable bus ride. We had guys singing. The bus ride to the game was tense and we were late for the game but the amount of team spirit we had on the bus, and everyone singing on the way to the stadium.
"When I say we have something special in this locker room, I really mean it. Whether we're at training, whether we're off the field, guys get on really well here. Guys believe in each other and the talent speaks for itself."
When asked what they were singing, Teibert said he has no idea. It was mostly in Spanish!
That's infectious atmosphere O'Brien was talking about before adding that even for an older guys like himself, "stuck in his ways", it's impossible not to get swept along with it.
So when O’Brien came over to Major League Soccer from England, did he ever think that he would get so emotionally invested in a team thousands of miles from home that he had no previous connections with?
"No," was O'Brien's honest reply, but he went on to explain why and what's changed.
"In 2011, these are only private thoughts, I was close to packing it in, stop playing football. It had been the best part of my life for 15, 16 years then. The opportunity I was given, firstly by Martin wanting me, it taught me that even though you can go through a rough period. if you can keep digging away, there's light at the end of the tunnel.
"I've certainly enjoyed my time here. I think physically, I'm as fit as I've ever been. Mentally, I'm enjoying coming in to work every day and that's testament to what the club have done in terms of the players that they've brought in."
"I've found it a real nice experience and one that I'll learn from and one that I think the European model can learn from. I know that MLS and North America aspire to be like the Premier League but I think there's a lot that could be learned from the North American model."
O’Brien is now 35-years-old, hardly ancient, but in footballing terms, especially for a central defender, age can play a part in how much in demand you are. His Whitecaps contract runs out at the end of the year. He hopes to remain in Vancouver, but whatever happens here, he has no intentions of hanging up his boots.
"Whether anyone wants me or not is another story," O'Brien joked. "But in terms of my desire and wish to play, yeah."