Geelong has a storied past of producing stars that dominate in the blue and white hoops down back. Starting with Matthew Scarlett through to Harry Taylor to diamond in the rough Tom Stewart. Now, the Cattery has a new heir to the defensive thrown in Geelong: Connor O'Sullivan.
The rangy 198cm defender is only in his third year at AFL level but has played 38 out of the last 39 games for the Cats and is already staking his claim as the club's best defender.
O'Sullivan's strength in his contested duels is a feature while he averages 16.4 disposals (at 80 percent efficiency), 6.8 intercept possessions and 6.8 marks per game. The 21-year-old ranks first in the league for defensive one-on-one wins and eighth for intercepts and for spoils.
Three years ago, O'Sullivan was bouncing between the Murray Bushrangers in the Talent League and his home team Albury Tigers in the Ovens and Murray. Up along the Victoria-NSW border, O'Sullivan was coached by former GWS, Richmond and Gold Coast player Anthony Miles.
The historic country football powerhouse (celebrating its 150th year this season) has produced its fair share of AFL footballers. Miles revealed to Zero Hanger despite all lining up for different clubs, a Tiger never changes its stripes.
"We try most off-seasons or at Christmas time to have a bit of a lunch," Miles told Zero Hanger.
"As I said, we've got a few past players (Charlie Spargo, Daniel Turner, Will Setterfield, Phoenix Gothard, Zac Williams, Riley Bice and O'Sullivan) who are now in the AFL system so, typically at Christmas time, it's where people come home to be near their family.
"So we always try and have a lunch or a dinner where we all catch up, which is pretty special as well."
Miles, who played 88 matches over nine seasons in the AFL, still plays for the Tigers. But back when O'Sullivan wore the senior yellow and black strip across 2022-23, Miles was player-coach.
The now-34-year-old said he was honoured when a young O'Sullivan would seek him out for advice.
"I was fortunate that I had just come out of the system as well as a player," he said. "Obviously, didn't have anywhere near the talent that (O'Sullivan) did, but just knowing what was required at that level, he would always seek feedback and then act on it, which is pretty humbling for me.
"So we had a really, really good relationship and close relationship, particularly as he was obviously trying to get drafted and pushing to play Bushrangers as a 17-year-old."
Now emerging as one of the premier key defenders in the game, as a junior, O'Sullivan used his athleticism to play a mobile forward-ruck role for Albury.
Miles said O'Sullivan's eagerness to play for his home club even with the draft approaching helped the Tigers go on a deep finals tilt.
"We went on a bit of a run late in the year and he was fantastic for us," he said. "We ended up losing that grand final, which he played in, by three points and he played as a forward-ruck.
"Probably had an inkling by the time it got to the grand final that he was going to be drafted. So it was just about going and enjoying himself.
"The main memories of that year as an 18-year-old was he was obviously with the Murray Bushrangers, highly touted to be drafted, but any chance he got, he would always push the Murray Bushrangers and in a way, pester them to play for Albury.
"I think he played seven or eight games in that year, which in your draft year is pretty phenomenal, really. Usually, they only see them once or twice, but he was pretty persistent that he wanted to play for Albury and we obviously loved having him."
During his draft night back in 2023, O'Sullivan became one of the headline stories of the event.
After being selected by Geelong with pick 11, O'Sullivan's good friend and fellow Albury export Phoenix Gothard was taken by GWS with the following pick as the big bolter of that draft.
Gothard had been at the event purely as a friend to support O'Sullivan, who was a near-certainty to go in the first round. But when the Giants called out his name, the group was in raptures and O'Sullivan sprinted back from his media duties to wrap his mate in a hug.
Miles said the pair of Tiger cubs were great representatives of Albury as a club in terms of quality of person and footballer.
"It's well documented about Phoenix Gothard, O'Sullivan going pick 11 and (Gothard) one selection after him," he said. "So, we see those guys playing together, it was pretty special for them as good mates as well.
"Whenever they both got the chance to play with us they would jump at the opportunity. Phoenix was probably a little bit different towards the back end of that year. It was his first real year of representative footy, so he was, by his own admission, probably getting a little tired by the back end of the year.
"We've been really fortunate as a football club. I think, over the last 10-15 years, we've nearly had 20 guys drafted. So it's been really impressive and obviously those guys representing the club at the moment, yeah, they're pretty special for us."
