Watch: Geelong stars Croke Park-bound to support teammate Mark O'Connor and Dingle 

Mark O'Connor of Dingle after his side's victory in the semi-final win over Ballyboden St Enda's of Dublin at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

The majority of Dingle will be in Croke Park on Sunday for the All-Ireland Club SFC final between the west Kerry outfit and Roscommon's St Brigid's. 

There will also be a couple of Geelong Cats in attendance, four in fact, if you include Mark O'Connor, the AFL Premiership-winning star who'll be lining out in the middle of the park for Dingle. 

Geelong have allowed 28-year-old O'Connor to miss out on pre-season training to go in search of securing a dream All-Ireland title with his club, and three of his Cats teammates are en route from Australia and will be in attendance at Croker.

A trio of premiership Cats is jetting off to the other side of the globe to watch a teammate chase a lifelong dream. It's reignited calls for the return of the International Rules Series. @cleary_mitch @7AFL pic.twitter.com/WYmEaLbGb4

— 7NEWS Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) January 16, 2026

Patrick Dangerfield, Mark Blicavs, Jack Henry are the trio making the long trip, but for those left behind, there'll be a watch party of Cats lending their support from GMHBA Stadium. 

Speaking to 7News prior to their flight, Geelong captain Patrick Dangerfield said: "It really is a once-in-a-lifetime sort of opportunity, so we said, bugger it, let's do it. 

"We've got a contingent in at about 2am (at the club), we've changed our training around it to be honest. We really see the value in supporting Mark and watching it, whether it's live for us or it's at the club."

On missing out on a pre-season training session in preparation for their March 6 AFL Premiership opener against Gold Coast Suns, he added: "Well none of us have missed a session, we've been pretty healthy, touch wood, but one session isn't going to break the season and it's too good an oppurtunity to miss.

"I'm not sure how much running we'll do in Ireland, but we'll check out a few pubs while we're there."