Geelong Cats legends back Joel Selwood as greatest player in club history
The greats of Geelong’s modern era have weighed in on milestone man Joel Selwood and whether he is the best player to wear the hoops in the modern era.
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MATTHEW Scarlett puts it simply.
When asked about Joel Selwood’s impact on Geelong the great Geelong full-back said: “No one has given more effort to win games of footy for their club than him.”
When weighing up Selwood’s place in the pantheon at the Geelong Football Club, that’s a pretty good place to start.
From one of the most ruthless competitors of the AFL era, Scarlett’s praise sums up the esteem the Cats skipper is held by the greats of his era.
Steve Johnson described him as “one of the most important people to walk into the football club in its history”.
And Cameron Ling and Tom Hawkins are both adamant: there has been no greater player in Geelong’s history than the fearless skipper.
With Selwood on the verge of being the first Cat to play 350 games in the hoops, Ling was unequivocal as he said no player has had the same impact of Selwood on Geelong.
“He is the best all-round player the club has ever had,” the 2011 premiership skipper said.
“What I mean by that is from his pure playing ability, plus his leadership, the standards he drives and his personality around the club, the way he has kept this group together, he is one of the greatest Geelong Football Club people in its entire history.
“The only thing he hasn’t done is coach but I am sure there is a possibility that might be in his future.”
At times in Selwood’s peak years of the early to mid-2010s, a then-retired Ling would walk away from Cats games with a blue-and-white scarf in his hand wondering how the No.14 lifted his team yet again.
“His desire to will his team and his teammates over the line time and time again is something pretty special,” Ling said.
“(In the) 2014-15 range where I reckon he was at the peak of his powers, there were games where they were gone and somehow Joel would just get them over the line with willpower and determination and I would think ‘I’m not sure we should have won that game’. But Joel got us there.
“Things like that stick in my memory and that is a special trait to be able to do that.”
Talent wise, Selwood probably can’t match either of the two Gary Abletts for their individual brilliance in the hoops.
The likes of Hawkins and Scarlett would both possibly shade him as pure players.
But if Reg Hickey remains the Godfather of Kardinia Park for his deeds as a player and coach in the 20th century, Selwood stands above all in the modern era.
Consider this: since records began, no Geelong player has played more games, had more disposals, contested possessions, inside-50s or Brownlow Medal votes.
Only Tom Hawkins shades Selwood for goal assists.
Across the league as a whole since records were taken, Selwood leads the VFL/AFL in tackles, clearances and games as captain.
That is just on the field.
Selwood is the unofficial best ever community Cat, having over the years spent more than 1000 hours in the club’s programs.
He seemingly knows the name of every parent and child of his teammates, and it’s those little things that shine through for Ling.
“That is what the public doesn’t always get to see, just what a beautiful human being he is,” Ling said.
“It has always been the little things for me about Joel as a person.
“Even recently, I took my three boys along to a training session during the school holidays. It was a closed session, no-one there, but it was fine for the boys to be in the stand watching and walking around.
“I saw Joel go out of his way to run away from the group and a drill to just sneakily kick a couple of footies into the grandstands just for my boys to have a couple of footies to kick around and feel like they are part of the training session.
“And then he basically told them to jump the fence whenever they wanted to grab a footy. He made them feel like they were part of the training session and my kids just had the best time because Joel had thought to include these three random kids in the session.”
Nobody has seen more of Selwood than his great mate Hawkins.
Drafted together to Geelong at the end of 2006, the pair lived under the same roof in their first year in town.
They have since have won the most matches of any pairing in the game’s history and on Saturday will share the field for the 300th time.
The big forward grew up idolising Gary Ablett Sr but couldn’t go past Selwood as the greatest of all.
“Maybe I am a bit biased but I think (Selwood is) one of the greatest, if not the greatest Cats player to ever play,” Hawkins said this week.
Often loathe to compare players across eras and positions, Cats coach Chris Scott backed Hawkins’ call.
The pair have shared more games as captain-coach than any other duo in footy history and it’s clear to Scott that his skipper’s influence stands above all.
“I am biased as well (as Hawkins) because the captain-coach relationships is such an important one and I feel so privileged to have worked with such a great captain,” Scott said.
“I find it hard to compare eras but he is the best player I have seen in my time when you take everything into consideration.
“I actually don’t think of those things in terms of looking back Is Hawkins as a big, strong key forward better than Selwood as an inside, grunt midfielder? It is impossible to say but in terms of impact on a football club and assistance to a head coach, I can’t think of any better (than Selwood).”
Scott played against Selwood once, in his final AFL game with the Brisbane Lions in round 22, 2007.
The only regret in his relationship is that he didn’t get the chance to play alongside Selwood.
“The only slight disappointment I have as a coach is that I never got a chance to play with him because that would have been the one: following him into battle,” Scott said.
Champion defender Corey Enright probably knew he was always only a placeholder when he broke Ian Nankervis’ longstanding record for most games played for Geelong in 2016.
Unsurprisingly, Selwood passed him five years later and continues to sprint away.
A six-time All-Australian himself and recently anointed a club legend, Enright said Selwood would have to be near the top of the list of modern Cats.
“Not sure where he is rated but it clearly has to be right near the top of the tree for contribution, impact, consistency and longevity,” he said.
“Not only through his football on field but also his leadership and ability to influence.”
Mercurial forward Johnson was one of several Cats wowed by Selwood when he trained at the club as an AIS Academy member in 2006.
A year later the hard-nut midfielder from Bendigo walked back in the doors as an AFL player and begun a career that still has Johnson shaking his head.
“(Selwood) sits comfortably alongside any previous Geelong player in regards to the impact he has had as a player and a leader of the club,” he said.
“A true professional who makes others around him walk taller.”
Speedster Travis Varcoe made his AFL debut alongside Hawkins in Selwood’s first win, back in round 2, 2007.
Mostly alongside Selwood, Varcoe would win 50 of his first 56 matches and he saw most of the modern club greats up close.
While he said it was “unfair” to put Selwood to the top of the tree while he is still playing and hunting a flag, Varcoe said he wasn’t far off being the greatest.
“At the moment he has still got a job to do, in a way it is probably incomplete at the moment but you could see everyone that has gone before him,” Varcoe said.
“It is probably one where you are going to have to wait a bit but he is certainly on the right track to be one of, if not the greatest Cats player.
“I couldn’t possibly say wholeheartedly that he is definitely the bet but he has mounted a fair case to be in that conversation.”
Typically humble, Selwood this week couldn’t completely dodge the question and when he was asked about Hawkins’ glowing endorsement he attempted to shrug it off, like he has thousands of tackles over the last 15 years.
“(Hawkins) is probably my closest ally and he is probably a bit biased,” Selwood said.
“There has been some pretty good players who have walked through these doors (at GMHBA Stadium) but I obviously appreciate not only those words from him but it has been really nice to sit down with him and go through everything.”
As always, Selwood said this week he wouldn’t fully appreciate his achievements until his career is done.
But if he isn’t there already, the legendary leader is well on the way to being the greatest Cat of all.
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