Joel Selwood risks looking like a sore loser by mouthing off at Scott Pendlebury after the siren
JOEL Selwood let the moment get the better of him on Sunday night, and a post-match squabble with Scott Pendlebury paints him as a sore loser, writes Mark Robinson. WATCH THE INCIDENT
JOEL Selwood let the moment get the better of him on Sunday night.
Nothing too dramatic. Nothing coach Chris Scott will question him about. And probably half of his team didn’t see it, anyway.
But the problem was all of the footy world saw it.
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The Geelong captain allowed his competitive fibres to stray into the uncompetitive zone when he and Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury spoke on the ground after the final siren on Sunday.
We only have footage and it showed Selwood talking to a bewildered-looking Pendlebury.
There’s an awkward handshake before Selwood keeps talking and then they separate.
It was unusual because Selwood has shown himself to be a siren-to-siren player with great respect for the sport. Competitor yes, but also gracious in victory and defeat.
This time, however, the confrontation painted Selwood as a sore loser.
Maybe it looks worse than what it was, but at the moment it’s a guessing game about what is being said.
On Monday, Pendlebury tweeted video of the moment and attempted to make a joke about the exchange.
It wasn’t a bad move from the Pies skipper, but all it has done is prick even more interest.
A Cats official said: “There was nothing in it ... it was schoolboy stuff.’’
The official was bemused when two TV film crews arrived at Simonds Stadium on Monday, hoping to interview Selwood. “Slow news day,” he said.
He revealed the two players started their squabble moments before the final siren and continued it after the siren sounded.
Asked what Selwood said, a Collingwood official said: “I’ve got no idea.”
Earlier in the day, Collingwood president Eddie McGuire also said he didn’t know what was said.
Cats coach Chris Scott said on Monday night he had only become aware of the incident on Monday afternoon and was yet to speak to Selwood.
“Joel and our footy club for a long period of time have gone to great lengths to lose with grace and any perception that Joel or Geelong hasn’t done that would be embarrassing to us,” he said on AFL360.
“But I’ve known him long enough to know it wouldn’t be a case of Joel reacting badly because they lost the game. And don’t forget these two guys know each other very well ... there’s not much bad blood there.”
Clearly, Selwood had restrained rage.
He had a poor game and was tagged out of the contest by Levi Greenwood.
At different stages of the game, Selwood tried to go Pendlebury to break the tag, but in the end Selwood was beaten and so were his Cats.
Greenwood’s job on the Cats skipper will not have been unnoticed by opposition coaches.
The modern game points to an 18-man defence — as most coaches convey — but if Selwood can be quelled by Greenwood and the Cats lose, then the question must be asked: Why don’t all teams tag Selwood?
Champion Data revealed the sharp drop in numbers Selwood puts up when tagged as opposed to when not tagged. He has eight fewer disposals and about one fewer clearance on average across 100 minutes.
The most interesting statistic is between 20014 and 2017, Selwood was tagged in just 17 games.
Perhaps that’s about to change.
Note: Figures per 100 minutes, 2014-2017
Source: CHAMPION DATA
Originally published as Joel Selwood risks looking like a sore loser by mouthing off at Scott Pendlebury after the siren
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