What a whirlwind 24 hours it was for George Stevens in the lead up to his AFL debut. 

The emerging on-baller turned up to Geelong's training session on Friday after being listed as an emergency for the Cats clash with Richmond, preparing to take on the Tigers in the VFL on Sunday with no inkling of what was about to happen. 

Then the news was broken....... he was playing. An AFL debut awaited and a childhood dream was about to be realised. 

Stevens was swarmed by his teammates when the announcement was made, before getting on the phone to inform those closest to him in a moment the youngster will never forget. 

"It was a bit of mixed emotions," Stevens told Cats Media following the game. 

"I literally had no idea going in on Friday that I was going to be playing. I had been emergency a few times this year, so I rolled in thinking it would be the same old duties as an emergency.

"I was prepping to play tomorrow with the VFL, so when they announced it on the track I was in shock and disbelief.

"It was pure happiness, tears of joy ringing Mum and Dad, it was all the emotions. Then I had to worry about actually playing this arvo.

"I was full of emotion and it was some of the best memories I will ever have, ringing my family and ringing my close friends."

After a sensational run of form with the VFL Cats in 2025, Stevens earned his chance at the top level and took no time adapting to the speed of the game on Saturday afternoon. 

Spending the opening minutes on the bench, the debutant had a reasonably quiet start collecting two disposals in the first quarter but caught fire from there, finishing the match with 21 disposals and a game high eight clearances while going at an impressive 86% disposal efficiency. 

Often able to stand up under pressure and break tackles, Stevens had a phenomenal impact around stoppages but also forward of the ball, amassing a game-high 14 score involvements in an exciting sign of what lies ahead for the the tough on-baller.

Stevens said he took a little bit of time to adapt to the contest, but felt comfortable the further the game went on. 

"It was pretty amazing," Stevens said. 

"I started on the bench which was probably a good thing, I got to read the game for the first five minutes and then find my way into the game.

"I was just saying before that the first quarter, it took me a while to catch up to the speed of it all. I was thinking jeez, this is hard work.

"Then from that first quarter onwards I found my patterns and just tried to go back to my strengths around the ball.

"The boys put so much trust in me numerous times, where I got the opportunity to be the target and play that role. To get my goal purely from Shaun Mannagh blocking for me and trading that free kick, the boys were exceptional out there tonight and looked after me so well."

A humble character from South Warrnambool, Stevens was a highly touted prospect during his junior career spending time with Vic Country and the GWV Rebels, winning numerous awards and putting himself firmly in the draft window at the end of 2023. 

But it was not all smooth sailing with Stevens having to persist through an ACL tear in his bottom-aged season, which saw him slip down the draft board before Geelong selected him with pick number 58. 

At the centre of it all has been an incredible network of family and friends, pushing him and supporting him through all the highs and lows which ultimately lead to an AFL debut on Saturday afternoon. 

Those closest to Stevens attended the game at GMHBA Stadium and were present in the rooms as George's father, Sam presented him his jumper prior to the match.

"I can't speak for everyone else, but I reckon we were all pretty excited and blown away by the phone call yesterday to say that George was in," Sam said. 

"We had been hoping that it might happen, when it finally did it was amazing.

"It was better than you could have hoped for."