George Stevens finds himself in some pretty illustrious company. 

Growing up playing his junior football for the South Warrnambool Roosters, Stevens hails from a club that has produced the likes of Jonathan Brown, Wayne Schwass and Hugh McCluggage. 

The young Cat also attended Emmanuel College, a school that had famous names such as Mick Turner and Jordan Lewis roaming through the hallways once upon a time. 

During Geelong's Community Camp visit to Warrnambool, Stevens had the opportunity to return to his old school and reconnect with some familiar faces.

"Obviously I spent six years at Emmanuel College, those are the formative years of your life," Stevens told Cats Media. 

"I was able to create some great friendships through classmates that I still keep in contact with. Probably more importantly, heading there today and seeing some teachers that I haven't seen in three years, and teachers that I still connect with.

"It is amazing to go back in Cats' colours, felt a little bit weird because it felt like I should be putting the uniform back on.

"It was a really cool experience to go there with Max [Holmes] and Lenny [Hofmann] as well, to show them around and have a bit of a laugh with them about my old stomping ground. It was very good fun and an amazing opportunity."

Stevens grew up just a stone's throw away from his home ground at South Warrnambool, following in the footsteps of his father and older brother to pull on the Roosters guernsey. 

The journey with his local club took him to some incredible places, helping Stevens to earn a chance with the GWV Rebels and Vic Country during his junior career, before catching the eye of Geelong recruiters. 

It resulted in his AFL dream becoming a reality in 2023, when the Cats selected Stevens with pick 58 at the National Draft. 

Last year he earned his debut at the top level and impressed in his first game with a dominant performance against Richmond, while also being selected in the initial squad for the 2025 VFL Team of the Year.

Getting to head home before the 2026 season commences was a chance for Stevens to spend quality time with family and friends, being able to enjoy the connection between the two biggest influences in his life. 

"It has been a great few days," Stevens said. 

"Speaking to my family, it is like two of my worlds colliding a little bit. I have got my Geelong world and then Warrnambool, so to have them both intertwined and bring a few mates down.

"I had Mitch Edwards, Connor O'Sullivan and Lawson Humphries down on Monday night early. We came down a night early and Mum cooked up a big feed of curry for us all, so it was cool to have them around the family.

"It is nice to have all the boys down here, the weather has provided for Warrnambool. It has been a great couple of days and it is nice to be home."

Geelong's connection to South Warrnambool extends beyond Stevens and his family, with assistant coach James Rahilly also a product from the Roosters football factory. 

Rahilly played 90 AFL games with the Cats between 1998 and 2005, working with Geelong's AFL coaching staff between 2011 and 2021 before heading to Adelaide, but he returned as an assistant coach in 2024.

Stevens spoke about his connection with Rahilly and how it helped him to settle in at Geelong. 

"It is great, James [Rahilly] is another South Warrnambool boy," Stevens said.

"We made that connection pretty early on in my time at the Cats. He had a relationship with my Dad before I arrived, so it has been great.

"I said to another local newspaper that it has just helped my transition massively, just someone there that shares common interests and is able to connect with me pretty easily, just through talking about local footy or people that we may know.

"We both camp over Christmas and New Year's at the same spot, down in Warrnambool. We spend a bit of time together over that period, it is really nice to connect with someone from home and share common interests.

"We talk about local footy results and how South Warrnambool are going, things like that outside of our game plan and how my footy is going, even how his coaching is going."