Mark Corrigan to lead the Cats in VFL

THE Geelong Cats have announced the appointment of former VFL player and coach Mark Corrigan as its VFL side’s senior coach for the next three seasons.

Corrigan joins the club from Casey Demons, where he coached the team to the VFL Premiership this season in only his second year there.

Before his time at Casey, Corrigan previously worked at Essendon for six years from 2015 in several positions across player development, and was the club’s VFL coach in 2020 before the pandemic cancelled the season.

Geelong general manager of football Simon Lloyd said Corrigan would be a valued addition to the club’s coaching group.

“Mark has strong experience in the coaching and development of young players and we’re thrilled to have his football expertise overseeing our VFL program.

“Mark’s knowledge will ensure our players will continue to build their capabilities in our development system to allow them to be in the position to take their opportunities at AFL level.”

It will be a return home for Corrigan, who spent four seasons from 2011-2014 at the Cats as a VFL player and midfield coach.

He was part of the premiership winning team in 2012 and won the club’s best and fairest award in 2013.

He also won a premiership in the Geelong Football League with South Barwon.

Incumbent VFL coach Shane O’Bree, who has been with Geelong since 2012 and VFL coach since 2016, will remain with the Cats and move into the newly created role of AFL midfield and list assistant.

Lloyd said the club was excited to have O’Bree take this new opportunity within the football department and continue to develop his experience across other parts of the program.

“Shane has been integral in leading our VFL team, he’s played a crucial role in the development of a number of players, at both VFL and AFL level, many of whom played in our AFL Grand Final win.

“Players like Tom Atkins, Sam De Koning, Zach Guthrie, Mark O’Connor, Jack Henry and Gryan Miers have all benefited from having Shane part of their football development.

“Shane has a depth of experience generated over a number of years and has worked across many facets of coaching and development, this new role will see him use much of that experience and will also broaden his future development.”