Finn has genes to be No.1 in draft
Highly-rated midfielder Finn O’Sullivan says he just wants to be his “best self” as expectations grow that he could become the second No. 1 draft pick to come from his family tree.
A tough and hard-running midfielder from the small town of Koroit in western Victoria, O’Sullivan is the second-cousin of Carlton young gun Sam Walsh.
Walsh was the No. 1 draft pick in 2018 and has been both a source of inspiration and advice for O’Sullivan over recent years. “He’s always been someone I can talk to if I need help and he’s definitely not shy to give his thoughts on it all,” O’Sullivan said of Walsh, who he last saw at a family reunion last year.
“He’s been through the programs that I’m going through now. It’s good to see how he’s taken on a leadership role at such a young age and he has just been exceptional. He’s such a down-to-earth bloke, too.”
A natural ball-winning midfielder who can play inside or outside, O’Sullivan won the Kevin Sheehan Medal as the best player of the under-16 national championships in 2022 and went on to produce an eyecatching bottom-age year with the Oakleigh Chargers in the Coates Talent League last season.
He was also named on the bench in the under-18 boys AllAustralian team last year after starring in three games of the national championships for Vic Country as a bottom-age player.
The 17-year-old is boarding at Xavier College this year, where he will complete his Year 12 studies. He will play school football alongside games for the Chargers, the AFL Academy and Vic Country at the under-18 national championships.
“I feel I can be a bit of a versatile player,” O’Sullivan said.
“Seeing the draft, there’s a lot of midfielders.
“But for myself I think the fundamentals I do quite well, which I try and hold myself accountable for, and definitely my overhead ability.”
The town of Koroit – which had a population of just 2184 people in 2021 – has been put on the map in recent years by Port Adelaide midfielder Willem Drew, who is another player that O’Sullivan looks up to.