Vale Troy Selwood: Former teammates Jonathan Brown, Brendan Fevola pay tribute

Former teammates Brendan Fevola and Jonathan Brown have paid tribute to Troy Selwood after his death at the age of 40.

Troy Selwood’s deceptively simple nickname and the time Jonathan Brown had to save him from being kicked out of Brown’s wedding have led the continuing tributes to the beloved football figure.

Selwood, 40, died on Tuesday and his passing has been met with an outpouring of emotions from across the football spectrum.

A tough tagger, Selwood played 75 matches for the Brisbane Lions, many of which came alongside Brown in the late 2000s.

VALE TROY: BENDIGO KID DESERVES FOOTY’S TOP COMPLIMENT

His Lions teammates knew Selwood by the nickname ‘Bunno’ and Brown revealed the name was a crude tag created by future Collingwood coach Craig McRae, who was a Brisbane forward when Selwood was drafted to the Queensland club.

“People ask him, how do you get Bunno? And he goes, the great thing about footy clubs is they give you nicknames,” Brown told Nova 100.

“Craig McRae, one of the funniest characters I played with, now the Collingwood coach said, ‘Well, Troy Selwood. He needs a nickname. Selwood. Where do you sell wood? Bunnings.’

“That’s how he got Bunno and it stuck for the rest of his footy career.”

Jonathan Brown and Brendan Fevola played with Troy Selwood in Brisbane.

Selwood may have been tough and combative off the field, and then thoughtful about development in later roles as a recruiter at Geelong and a mentor at Geelong Grammar.

But he was also fantastic fun, according to Brown.

When the champion forward got married in 2008, Selwood was there at the start of the festivities but he almost didn’t make it to the end, given he was close to being kicked out for some dancefloor antics.

“He had a beautiful soul about him and including at the wedding, I think he might have nearly got kicked out of our wedding along with (Lions defender) Dan Merrett, who was his great mate,” Brown said.

“The boys were getting a bit carried away on the dancefloor. They thought they would put a trail of Crown lagers on the dance

Troy Selwood and David Wojcinski after Geelong’s VFL premiership victory.

floor to make a slip and slide, which the venue operator wasn’t too keen on.

“(I said) ‘You can’t kick some of my best mates out of my own wedding.’ He loved life, he had a great smile and he was a very empathetic bloke as well. That is why teammates loved him and everyone in the footy club loved him and everyone he met loved him.”

Selwood lived with Brendan Fevola when the goalkicker moved north from Carlton.

Fevola, who spoke to Selwood’s parents Bryce and Maree on Tuesday, thanked his old housemate for his support when Fevola battled through off-field issues.

“Troy is a ripper. I was going through a bit of a tough time when I was up in Brisbane and he was the bloke that was there for me, which meant a lot to me,” an emotional Felova said on the Fox’s Fifi, Fev and Nick show.

“It’s just really upsetting and shattering that you just think, what could you have done, but you can’t do anything … you will hear stories and no one will say a bad word about him, he was just one of the real good ones.”

Fevola also posted on Instagram: “Thanks for being there for me when I was going through a tuff (sic) time,” he posted on Instagram.

Matthew Knights and Troy Selwood.

“Best house mate I’ve ever had. Love you mate.”

Having joined the Lions just as their premiership era was beginning to taper away, Selwood didn’t play any AFL finals.

But he did captain a VFL flag in 2012 when lured to Geelong and his premiership coach Matthew Knights said he was “a pleasure to coach and a fine leader”.

“He wore his heart on his sleeve and no game was not a winnable one in his eyes,” Knights said.

Joel and Maree Selwood were due to speak to media on Wednesday in Bendigo to promote physiotherapy company Keiser but that event was postponed.

Originally published as Vale Troy Selwood: Former teammates Jonathan Brown, Brendan Fevola pay tribute