Joel Selwood’s details how he feels for his mother and family watching him play

One of the toughest players to ever step on the AFL field, there is one thing Joel Selwood ‘won’t be encouraging’ his kids to do when they watch the game.

Joel Selwood has no fear for himself when he puts his body in harm’s way over and over in the Geelong jumper, but he does fear for those he loves sitting in the stands.

Through 339 excellent games, perhaps no player in the game’s history has been as tough as the Cats skipper as he made an art form of winning the hard ball.

Joel Selwood hands Maree Selwood a bouquet of flowers

He also made an art form of drawing high free kicks, with his patented shrug of a tackle into his neck and face drawing many of his 858 free kicks over the journey.

While the tactic has undoubtedly been a success and changed the game, it has drawn the ire of opposition fans.

Selwood was roundly booed in round 3 against Collingwood, on the night he broke the VFL/AFL record for most games as captain, after he collected Magpie upstart Jack Ginnivan high in a tackle.

Selwood has seen and heard it all before from the opposition, but that doesn’t mean he likes booing, given how it can impact his mother Maree and wife Brit as they sit in the stands.

“That is the one thing that I do fear,” he said.

“(Maree) is a pretty tough woman but I do fear for her and a number of others that come along to watch. That is my only fear when I go along to a game to be honest, that they will hear things that they probably could bite back at, but they never do (bite back).

“They are unbelievably strong women and I am lucky that I have them in my corner and they understand how it all plays out.”

Joel Selwood copped it from Collingwood fans in round 3. Photo by Michael Klein

Selwood’s teammate Isaac Smith was the next Cat to cop jeers, in round 5 against his old club Hawthorn.

Star forward Tom Hawkins was also roundly booed after Hawks fans thought he staged for an important free kick.

While most fans argue that booing is a natural part of spectator sport, Selwood doesn’t like it.

“It is not something that I will encourage when I have children,” he said.

“I won’t be encouraging them to do it at any stage but everyone is different.”

Selwood said he was keen to give back to Maree next weekend for Mother’s Day, given the times she has spent in the stands watching Joel and his three brothers – Troy, Adam and Scott – as they broke the record for most games by a set of brothers in league history.

Once Troy departed to play in Brisbane and Adam went to the West Coat Eagles, the burden of Mother’s Day gifting fell on to Joel and Scott, with Scott the clubhouse leader for best gift after he presented a trip to the United States one year.

Joel and Maree Selwood celebrate a birthday back in Bendigo.

With Joel in the twilight of his career, this could be Maree’s last Mother’s Day weekend with her sons in the AFL and Joel will be on hand to send out messages of support through website heyswysh.com this year.

Presented with free weekends without AFL to trek to, Joel said Maree and his father Bryce wouldn’t know what to do with themselves next weekend.

“They will be a little bit lost but they will find a way to fill in their time,” he said.

“I think they will get eaten up pretty quickly when grandchildren come along but they will definitely miss (football).”

SELWOOD READY FOR WEST TEST

Geelong skipper Joel Selwood is relishing a chance to confront another competitive interstate side at GMHBA Stadium after facing a series of non-Victorian battlers over the years.

Kardinia Park has been a graveyard for interstate sides in the past two decades and only twice in the last 15 attempts have non-Victorian sides beaten the Cats there, with the GWS Giants doing it on both occasions.

Joel Selwood is excited by the Fremantle challenge. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Geelong had a back-and-forth belter with the Brisbane Lions in round 3 and came up victorious by 12 points.

Fremantle has been spared the trip in recent seasons, having played there only once since 2015 – a loss in 2018 – and Selwood said the Dockers would be a very different side to the one that was thumped by 133 points last time out at GMHBA Stadium.

“We obviously usually do have the interstate sides that travel down and in the past they haven’t been in the situation they are at the moment,” Selwood said.

“To have Freo sitting where they are on the ladder (second) and we need to take the points off them is a really big game now.

“Our fans are going to be important. We loved what they brought against Brisbane and we want to see it again on Saturday afternoon.”

David Mundy on the track in Geelong on Friday. Picture: Mark Wilson

Through their successful start to the season, the Dockers have shown a willingness to play both fast and slow, ranking near the top of the league for scores for and limiting scores against off turnovers.

The Cats have sped up their game this year and have dropped their marks per game dramatically as they don’t waste any time going direct to the forward line.

Selwood said he expected things to slow down at times – particularly when Fremantle exits its defence – but the Dockers could also up the pace.

“You will see a little bit of that marking but a lot of that is in the back half so they can control it out of their defence,” he said.

“They can also go quick in there (to the forwardline) so we have to be on our game.

“We are going to have our work cut out for us, they are going to bring across a side that is different to what we have played in the past when we think of Freo.”

Originally published as Joel Selwood’s details how he feels for his mother and family watching him play