Geelong stars Joel Selwood and Gary Ablett mark AFL milestones

Gary Ablett’s 350th and Joel Selwood’s 300th game is off limits to their families and fans but is a milestone worth celebrating.

Gary Ablett and Joel Selwood at Kardinia Park as they prepare to play their milestone matches against Gold Coast on Saturday. Picture: Michael Klein

Geelong has commissioned a bobble head doll to commemorate Joel Selwood’s 300th game for the club. It comes complete with a head bandage. The Bendigo boy is not necessarily a bleeder, but in the mould of Sydney’s Jude Bolton he has a habit of putting his head where it’s most likely to get hurt.

The bandage is his trademark.

Brendan McCartney remembers the first intraclub game Selwood played at Kardinia Park back in 2007. The assistant coach was sent down to counsel the kid against going head-first into the pack. Already bleeding, the raw-boned recruit frowned, nodded, ran back on to the field and did exactly the same thing again.

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Selwood’s mum, Maree, will not be at the game where her son celebrates his 300th. The virus has ruined that for her, the rest of the family and the Geelong faithful who will make do by watching on the television.

She’d made her own banner, too. Geelong was out of blue crepe paper but she contacted the cheer squad who came through. She told Gerard Whateley on SEN this week she erected the tribute in a vacant block by her son’s house this week so he could see it — she wasn’t allowed inside the bubble but he saw it from his window.

Four Selwood siblings played senior football, but the weight of numbers does not outweigh the burden the Ablett name placed on Gary Ablett Jr when he arrived at Geelong through the father and son rule in the 2002 draft.

His first game was preceded by a mention in parliament. Passionate Geelong supporter Ian Cover, known to most football fans through his role with the long-running Coodabeen Champions radio program, was an elected member of the Liberal Party. “I trust that he will be able to follow in his father’s footsteps — to some degree, if not the same degree as his father,” Cover told the House.

If he refrained from making a reference to the “son of god” he was one of the few. His freakishly talented father was, despite serious indiscretions away from the game, considered by many to be one of the finest players in history and known as God.

Some called Gary Jr “Jesus” but that son didn’t have the same expectations. His dad hadn’t been down here carving in a previous era. And they didn’t share a Christian name.

The son plays his 350th game on the weekend, while the season was on hold earlier this year Fox Footy set out to rank the best players of the 21st century. Author Ben Waterworth said finding the best player was the easiest part of compiling the list.

“No player has won more MVP awards. No player has polled more Brownlow Medal votes. No player has racked up more disposals, Champion Dataranking points and AFL Player Ratings points since 2000,” Waterworth said.

“Inside or outside, left boot or right boot, in the air or on the ground, short kick or long kick, overhead or on the ground, in front of the goals or on the last line of defence, Geelong or Gold Coast — he could do it all and has done it all, wherever he’s played.

“Ablett’s rise to superstardom genuinely kickstarted in 2007 and mirrored Geelong’s rapid rise. The fact most started to quickly drop the ‘Jr’ from his name — and even started to refer to his dad as ‘Gary Sr’ — proved he’d arrived.”

Joel Selwood with a Jamie Cooper painting of himself. Picture: Michael Klein

Geelong coach Chris Scott is probably relieved the faithful are not there for Saturday’s match against Gold Coast, having noted that the side needs to find a balance between focusing on the match and celebrating the 650 combined games of the club’s two finest players.

“They have just been remarkable players and people for our footy club,” he said. “They will go down as all time greats, irrespective of what happens from here.

“It’s important that we play well for a whole host of reasons and the fact that it’s a milestone for those guys is only one of them.”

Ablett and Selwood are a study in contrasts. The first a highly skilled, balanced player with a Houdini-like ability to get himself and his teammates out of trouble. There was a point in his history that the senior playing group sat him down and demanded he put more effort into his preparation.

According to McCartney, his teammates challenged him to work harder and commit more at training, and said “we’ll win premierships if you find the best way to prepare yourself, if you work a little bit harder you’ll tear this competition apart”.

Selwood, while skilful, caught the eye through his competitiveness and courage. The skipper only ever needed to be protected from himself, a player who has never flinched in the contest had never cut a corner in his preparation. From his first year at the club he was renowned for his dedication. The first there to watch reviews on Monday, always wanting to work on an element in his game.

Selwood was the magic ingredient the Cats needed, his first five years saw the club win three premierships. The AFL Rising Star and AFLPA First Year Player winner is a six time All Australian (three times as captain) and the obvious choice as club captain on the retirement of Cameron Ling in 2012.