Connor O’Sullivan admits he was in shock when he found he had been named in the All-Australian squad.
The emerging Geelong defender, who will make his 50th AFL appearance in next Friday’s elimination final, is one of four Cats in contention for the final 23, which will be announced tonight.
Like O’Sullivan, injured speedster Max Holmes and wingman Ollie Dempsey are vying for their first All-Australian blazers, while midfielder Bailey Smith is chasing a second consecutive selection.
“Being still young and that sort of stuff. I’ve just been trying to focus on improving my game week to week,” O’Sullivan said.
“I was very shocked, but obviously very grateful as well.”
Geelong’s first pick in the 2023 National Draft (pick 11), O’Sullivan finished the season second for contested defensive one-on-ones, seventh in the AFL for marks, seventh for intercept marks, ninth for one-percenters.
Ever humble, O’Sullivan says his recognition is about Geelong’s defensive unit rather than his own performance.
“I think it’s probably, as well, the reflection of the group we have got in the back line as well,” he said.
“There’s probably a couple of names that were stiff to miss out.
“We also had a bunch of other young talent like Max, Bailey and Ollie make the squad as well.
“So I think it speaks to the group as a whole and how we’re tracking and how we have been tracking throughout the year.
It is nice to get the individual recognition, but at the same time I think for us four to be able to get that, it takes the whole team to support us in our roles as well.
“I think we’ve been able to do that really well across the year and obviously set ourselves well for a finals campaign as well.”
After a breakout 2025 season, where he played 25 games, including the grand final loss to the Brisbane Lions, O’Sullivan says his further improvement this year has been about time in the system more than making adjustments in the pre-season.
“It was just about getting to work, and I feel like we’ve got a really good cohort; I know I was just touching on that in terms of week-to-week in games, but I feel like we really drive each other in pre-season,” he said.
“Obviously the older guys are always going to drive the standards, and have been doing so for a long time.
“But I feel like we’ve got a really good, strong group of young guys as well that have been driving that as well.
“I think it probably just allows us to elevate our game year to year and expect more of each other.”
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