"Winning is great," according to young Cats star Bryde O'Rourke and based on the 2026 AFLW season, the evidence is irrefutable. 

Geelong stormed to a ninth straight win with a big victory over the West Coast Eagles on Saturday, solidifying their position on the ladder with two games remaining in the home-and-away season. 

But for the new-look Cats this year, it means much more than just clinching the four points on the field, but also the opportunity to enjoy their football and building a strong chemistry with teammates and coaches. 

That notion has not been lost on O'Rourke, who said that the process behind what Geelong are trying to achieve is what unlocks the on-field results each week. 

"As a team, we don't try to focus on the outcome as much," O'Rourke told Cats Media. 

"We just enjoy that process and then off the back of that, we get to enjoy the win.

"It has been a great trip out west, we have all really enjoyed it."

In her third season with the Cats, O'Rourke is enjoying a stellar campaign and has grown in stature as the year has unfolded, one player that has certainly developed under Geelong's new system and head coach. 

The young Cat collected five intercept possessions from her 10 disposals against the Eagles, but also pushed forward to hit the scoreboard with a cracking goal at a crucial stage of the match. 

It has been a clear area of improvement for O'Rourke this year, already kicking five goals from nine games in 2026 after remaining goalless in her opening six matches at the elite level. 

Touching on the team-first mentality around the entire playing group, the emerging winger said that growing belief has been a big focus for the Cats across the season. 

"It is great to believe in ourselves, not that we need to prove anything, but it is great to instil that belief," O'Rourke said. 

"It helps to keep the momentum going, because we haven't made Finals for quite some time now.

"So we want to keep building momentum and see how we go."

O'Rourke also spoke about the momentum shift at half time against the Eagles, as the Cats shrugged off a sluggish start to blow the game wide open en route to a ninth straight victory. 

"I think it was our ability to build the ball up and create deeper entries for ourselves," O'Rourke said. 

"When we were scoring, we were probably scoring from too far out and taking shots from too wide.

"We just tried to narrow our focus into building the ball up, and maintaining our composure when we do have the ball.

"Just trying not to feed into their chaos as much, just trying to be calm with it."