Geelong champion Joel Selwood confirms his retirement after stunning AFL career
In the closing stages of the Cats grand final triumph, Joel Selwood found himself on the bench next to a young star who emplored his skipper to keep playing.
Halfway through the last quarter of Saturday’s grand final, Joel Selwood found himself on the bench sitting next to Sam De Koning and Mark Blicavs.
He was preparing himself for the final 15 minutes of his career.
De Koning didn‘t know that yet but he clearly picked up something was happening with his skipper.
“Sam just said, ‘You can’t finish’,” Selwood said as he choked back tears at his retirement press conference. ”That is pretty special for a 21-year-old kid, he probably read the moment while Blics knew I was in a bit of trouble.
“The heart was racing, the eyes were watering. I knew I was going out for my last 15 minutes of the game, and for my career.”
Selwood’s final farewell in the Captain’s Room at GMHBA Stadium on Wednesday was like everything he has done and touched since he raised the premiership cup on Saturday. Classy, heartfelt, emotional, honest, strong and inspiring.
His pregnant wife Brit, parents Maree and Bryce, brothers Troy, Adam and Scott sat in the front row on one side with three of his closest teammates, Tom Hawkins, Mitch Duncan and Patrick Dangerfield on the other while the rest of his teammates and every Geelong staff member were crammed in behind them.
Included in that group was his long-time manager Tom Petroro who was the first person Selwood told six weeks ago that this was going to be his last season.
“About six weeks ago, I decided this would be it, that I‘d finish my playing days at the Geelong footy club win, lose or draw come the end of the year,” Selwood explained.
“It was a decision made with my manager (Petroro) who I wanted to catch up with him before round 23. I’d got him to ask a few of the current players on his list, Mitch (Duncan), Tom Hawkins, Tom Stewart over the year to just see how I’m going and if I should move on.
“I then touched base with Patty Dangerfield to see how he thought I was going, just through background chats and they’re as loyal people as you would get. They all wanted me to play on.”
He then went to Geelong chief executive Steve Hocking and asked for his opinion.
“He said the same thing, it’s up to me whether I go on and I decided, out of all that, that I could go probably at 85 per cent next year and everyone would look after me but I had to be all in and I just couldn’t do that.”
Next on the list was his coach Chris Scott. On the Friday morning before the team meeting ahead of the following day‘s game against West Coast, Selwood dropped the bombshell on his coach of the previous 12 years.
He figured Hocking had given the coach the heads up but he hadn‘t as the CEO didn’t want to ruin the special moment.
“I went in there and basically told him I was OK, I was OK with the decision that I’d come to with Hock and Tommy (Petroro) and he wasn’t too sure what I was talking about,” Selwood said.
“So I had to explain to him that I wouldn‘t be continuing on next year. We had a bit of a cry together. I went to walk out the door and I had to turn around and have another hug before I walked out.
“Then Scotty probably delivered his worst performance of a pre-game speech I’ve ever seen which was quite disappointing because it was Patty’s 300th, I took the moment away from him but we had a special time.
“I couldn‘t even tell a couple of my best mates until grand final week and I couldn’t tell any of the players as I couldn’t let them play on emotion.
While he had no second thoughts, it was actually his wife who asked the question after the qualifying final over Collingwood.
“I played OK in that last game of the year against West Coast and in the first final against Collingwood I went OK again and it was probably only my wife that said, ‘Are we making the right decision?’.
“At that stage there were only six people that knew, my brothers didn’t know at that stage as I decided to tell them a little bit further down track but in the end it was an easy decision.”
Selwood, 34, said he didn’t feel any extra pressure coming into Saturday’s grand final against Sydney because of his little secret.
“That was easy. The game was easy, as I said pre-game, I played every game like it was my last. The game‘s really hard. I said when I could probably go 85% next year, I know that’s not good enough. You’ve got to go all out.
“I was ready for that straight away when I decided that it was going to be it, I knew I had to buckle in for six weeks here and make sure I had to get the job done.”
The Cats captain was best-on-ground in the first quarter with 12 possessions and then admitted he “floated” through the second half with the Cats in control. At three-quarter time he addressed the players and told them they’d won the premiership before reminding them of something he’d learnt in his first flag win in 2007 that finishing the game as you started was important.
Despite being asked continually from almost the final siren onwards about his future, Selwood played a straight bat until Tuesday morning when he drove to Hawkins’ farm in Ceres and then Duncan’s house to break it to his best mates that he was done.
He whispered in the ear of a few others including Dangerfield, Blicavs, Stewart and Cam Guthrie before breaking the news to everyone on Wednesday morning.
Asked about rating his extraordinary achievements over 355 games, which included four premierships, Selwood had to work hard to control his emotions.
“It’s the people you play with, it’s the front row, it’s not a stat,” he said.
“Hawk is a stat as I’ve played over 300 games with him which is ridiculous but I can’t put it (greatest achievement) into a number thing for you. I just loved playing with the boys.”
An emotional Scott, who played with some of the game‘s greats in Brisbane, declared Selwood the greatest player he’d ever seen.
“When you take everything into consideration, he is the best player I’ve ever seen and the best representative of the Geelong footy club you could possibly imagine,” Scott said.
“We won the footy lottery getting to spend a decade or so with Joel Selwood and now it‘s the turn for others to see what a truly great person he is. You can forget about everything he has done on a footy field and the rest would still be amazing.”
SELWOOD SIGNS OFF IN EMOTIONAL FAREWELL
Geelong skipper Joel Selwood has opened up on his decision to retire.
The superstar Cat said he made the call “about six weeks ago” after many conversations with those close to him.
“This is actually probably a little bit easier for me today than probably what most people would think,” he said.
“About six weeks ago, I decided this would be it, that I’d finish my playing days at the Geelong footy club win, lose or draw come the end of the year.
“It was a decision made amongst my manager, who I wanted to catch up with before round 23.
“We then decided, as I got him to ask a few of the current players on the list – Mitch, Tom Hawkins, Tom Stewart – over the year to just see how I’m going and if I should move on. I then touched base with Patty Dangerfield to see how he thinks I’m going, just through background chats and they’re as loyal people as you would get.
“They all wanted me to play on. It’s not going to be the case. I went to Tommy and I decided we should speak to Hock and get his opinion.
“He said the same thing, it’s up to me whether I go on and I decided, out of that, that I could go probably at 85 per cent next year and everyone would look after me but I had to be all in and I just couldn’t do that.”
Selwood showed rare emotion during the grand final on Saturday and told his teammates and the club formally on Tuesday night.
Speculation had been rife leading into the grand final that he would be playing his last game but even afterwards the 355-game champion stayed tight-lipped about his future.
He retires as Geelong’s games record holder, the only player to play in four premierships at the club, the VFL/AFL record holder for most games as captain and now as a premiership skipper in his own right.
“It’s unbelievable,” Selwood said.
“I’ve had great support the whole way along. Managers, Tommy and Catherine, can’t thank them enough.
“They’ve guided me the whole journey with what I should be doing, who I should be speaking to, how I deliver things. My family sitting in the front row. Three brothers that I’ve grown up, played footy against each other at the highest level, I got to play with one of them. Whatever I say, it won’t do them justice.
“Mum and dad, the journey started, I can’t really put into words, I can’t understand how they did what they did for us boys back then and got us to games and fed us and we’re here, we all had a good crack at it.
“The journey’s been good.”
Among his long list of accolades includes the VFL/AFL record for most finals played at 40, three Carji Greeves medals as the club’s best-and-fairest and six All-Australian blazers.
But the tough on-field leader is as well regarded off the field, having clocked up 1000 hours of community work through the club and he was awarded the Jim Stynes Award this year for his community service.
Selwood carried that reputation on grand final day, walking onto the field carrying Gary Ablett Jr’s son Levi and then pulling water boy Sam Moorfoot over the fence to join celebrations after the match, among several iconic grand final moments.
CHRIS SCOTT ON SELWOOD
“Joel and I in particular had spoken about the inevitability of that day coming but the thing that continually struck me about Joel was his ability to care for others and prioritise others. The end of, in my opinion – when you take everything into consideration, he is the best player I’ve ever seen and the best representative of the Geelong footy club you could possibly imagine. Even when the opportunity came to him to take a bit of the limelight, his priority was to make sure that his priority was to make sure that his decision didn’t negatively impact anyone else.
“If you don’t mind me saying, he spoke really well before to the rest of the playing group around the need to keep it from everyone so they could prioritise the team performance going into a finals series. Did play pretty well in the last game against West Coast, the first final as well. I think he was committed to his decision but the greatest going out on top, I can’t think of a better way for Joel to finish and I think he will still be our biggest fan.”
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