Irish Cat Mark O’Connor is back in Geelong after helping his home club Dingle win their first ever All-Ireland Senior Club Championship.
The defender landed back in Australia on Thursday and returned to Kardinia Park for pre-season training the next day, reflecting on what the mean wins to his hometown.
“It’s meant the world to everyone back home. The celebrations have been phenomenal. To see the club represented at Croke Park and have the town paint Dublin red and white was pretty special,” the 29-year-old said.
Geelong teammates Patrick Dangerfield, Mark Blicavs and Jack Henry all made the trip to Dublin to watch the match, while retired players Cam Guthrie and Zach Tuohy were also there to support him.
“It was like two of my worlds kind of collided a bit,” he said.
“To see them up there next to my family was a bit of a full circle moment. It’d been 11 years since I played at Croke Park and a lot has happened in the meantime, so to see the blend of Geelong and Dingle there was a special moment for me.”
With three Irish players on the club’s list currently, O’Connor has described Geelong as a unique environment.
“Obviously you make certain sacrifices when you do sign a professional contract, so you kind of don’t really expect such support for doing something like this.
“I’ve said it publicly before but I wouldn’t still be in Australia if I wasn’t at Geelong, just because I love home so much.
“There’s nothing I love more than going home in the off-seasons, and hopefully having Geelong people come over as well and have a look, my family and I have hosted quite a few now which is lovely.
“The connection makes it all the more special and the relationships I’ve built over here have been something that I hold close to my heart, and I can’t thank the club enough for that.”
Back in Australia ahead of the 2026 AFL season, O’Connor said he’s ready to go.
“I feel great, I feel fresh. I’m seriously looking forward to the season ahead,” he said.
“I couldn’t have left home in a better state so I think I’ll find it pretty easy to get motivated and get going again. My body feels great, I feel fit. I’m still in competition mode which is great. The body is definitely capable.
“Having achieved what we achieved at home, I just feel super motivated to go and give this season a full crack.”
