After a strong start to his time at Geelong, the 2025 campaign was not as fruitful for Ollie Henry and left him searching for a consistent spot in the Cats' line-up. 

Henry kicked 78 goals across his opening two seasons at Kardinia Park, but was held to 14 goals from 15 games last year and made his final appearance in Round 18, missing out on Geelong's Finals run. 

So when the pre-season rolled around, Henry went to work and put in what he described as "the most work in my career," frequently seen around the club and in the gym putting in extra work. 

The hard work paid off as Henry cemented his spot in the side, playing 23 games to this point of the 2026 season and kicking a career-high 43 goals, only being held goalless on two occasions and sitting second on Geelong's goal-kicking leaderboard. 

When asked about what he changed leading into the year, Henry noted that it was the alteration in mindset and routine that led to a major shift. 

"I think you get that confidence from putting in a lot of hard work," Henry said. 

"Definitely worked so hard on my fitness and my strength for various reasons.

"To be able to play the game the way I want to play it, with more speed and more strength. I feel like you get confidence from the work you put in.

"I wanted to come in a little bit earlier and get as many extra sessions in as I could.

"I just wanted to stay as consistent over the pre-season, it is a long season and staying out on the park and the more sessions you can accumulate, the more you are going to be held in good stead going into a season."

Henry has gone from strength to strength in recent weeks, kicking 17 goals in his last seven matches, including eight goals from three games at the MCG in front of big crowds. 

Despite missing out on September last year, the talented young forward has shown no signs of being overawed by the occasion, turning his 12 disposals into six score involvements in last week's victory over Carlton. 

He also kicked two goals and six score involvements in Geelong's mid-season clash with Fremantle at Optus Stadium, proving that he can handle the noise and pressure of an interstate crowd. 

Henry said he is looking forward to the occasion on Friday night, ready to embrace the challenge against Fremantle on the road. 

"They are a good team, they can get a lot of momentum and put scores on the board really quickly," Henry said. 

"Back when we did play them in Perth, their atmosphere is one of the best.

"That is something exciting going into a Final, knowing that the atmosphere is going to be very up and about.

"We are really excited, we just had that game against Carlton with another atmosphere that was pretty awesome to be a part of."