Universal Love Joel Selwood - 350 Games

[Art Vandelay_]

Pick 7 - 2006 AFL Draft. Stephen Wells stumbles over his words such is the surprise that this young kid has slipped through to us.
A leader from the day he walked through the door, now not just ours but also league football's longest serving captain.

From stories of his first training session at his first pre-season to Bomber's amazement that he was the one giving the team talk in the HT huddle in the 2007 grand final he has been destined to be a legend of the club and the AFL from very early on. Courage personified, the sheer determination to win. To will the team over the line no matter how hard it is or how few are going with him.

“I do remember leaving my home – the draft was on a Saturday morning – and saying to my wife as I walked out the door, if you hear that we’ve drafted a boy called Joel Selwood today you know we’ve had a good day,” Wells said.

Congratulations to our skipper, and hopefully he has one more duck in him... As an auskicker puts another premiership medal around his neck.

 

[kickazz]

Absolute warrior.

 

[thecatattack]

IF we win his 350th he'll become the most winningest captain in V/AFL history

 

[Kobe Gryant]

Absolute champion. Will genuinely shed a year when he hangs them up.

He's been huge for this football club. We owe so much of our great culture and workrate to this man. He came in and set the standards from day one as an 18 year old when the club was a shadow of the powerhouse it is today.

There will never be another Joel Selwood.

 

[thecatattack]

Pick 7 - 2006 AFL Draft. Stephen Wells stumbles over his words such is the surprise that this young kid has slipped through to us.
A leader from the day he walked through the door, now not just ours but also league football's longest serving captain.

From stories of his first training session at his first pre-season to Bomber's amazement that he was the one giving the team talk in the HT huddle in the 2007 grand final he has been destined to be a legend of the club and the AFL from very early on. Courage personified, the sheer determination to win. To will the team over the line no matter how hard it is or how few are going with him.

“I do remember leaving my home – the draft was on a Saturday morning – and saying to my wife as I walked out the door, if you hear that we’ve drafted a boy called Joel Selwood today you know we’ve had a good day,” Wells said.

Congratulations to our skipper, and hopefully he has one more duck in him... As an auskicker puts another premiership medal around his neck.

This podcast talked a bit about Joel and was good. They discuss his pre-2006 training session and how the leadership group went to Wells and said we have to draft him and then how Wells was hellbent on Boak or Joel. Worth a listen.

 

[cat_fanatic]

Joel epitomises what I love about footy

An absolute legend of our game that has made watching the Cats so much more enjoyable

Let's hope we can give him a win

 

[winty]

Surely part of the design of the new stand is having a statue of this bloke out the front.

Absolute warrior.

 

[catsfootyfan89]

He's basically been the heart and soul of the team since he came in. An absolute club hero. Would be in the top 5 of all-time club legends.

 

[goyoucatters]

This post will induce some serious heat from those who 'keep it real' around here. But, despite the fact that I was born nearly 20 years before him, I still have a 2007-era guernsey with his number on the back. And soon enough I will be able to pass it on to my son for him to share in that legacy of awe.

No player has made more of a difference over more time in all of my years of following this club. When 'legend' is just an entirely inadequate word to describe the character you're discussing, you know that you have been privileged to witness a simply unforgettable career.

#simplythebest
#milesbetterthanalltherest

 

[MacStradbroke]

This post will induce some serious heat from those who 'keep it real' around here. But, despite the fact that I was born nearly 20 years before him, I still have a 2007-era guernsey with his number on the back. And soon enough I will be able to pass it on to my son for him to share in that legacy of awe.

No player has made more of a difference over more time in all of my years of following this club. When 'legend' is just an entirely inadequate word to describe the character you're discussing, you know that you have been privileged to witness a simply unforgettable career.

#SimplyTheBest
#milesbetterthanalltherest

I proudly donned a number 14 guernsey at the 2007 GF

Might wear it Saturday night if it fits

 

[thecatattack]

Surely part of the design of the new stand is having a statue of this bloke out the front.

Absolute warrior.

Selwood, Cook, and Costa statues are needed

Maybe GAS and GAJ too

 

[thecatattack]

4 games and 3 (hopefully) finals takes them to 306.

 

[The Hoops Show]

So much love for this man.

 

[Generalissimo]

I hope he goes again next year.

 

[#6 Thorp #7 Selwood LOL]

I hope he goes again next year.

I reckon they'll only be able to remove him with a crowbar.

(Rightly so in my opinion. He has earned the right to play as long as he likes.)

 

[Willo_]

I have never seen a player with the same will to win and compete as Joel, I was unfortunate enough to be at that prelim that the Swans dropped us in the first quarter and Joel was so far and away our best that night he would have gotten the 3-2-1 from a Cats perspective, the chips were down, we were hopeless mostly and he was single handedly trying to drag us back into it, i am pretty sure at one point he kicked the ball, almost was teh fist one to where it landed to lay the tackle on the Swans player that had ended up with it.

Warrior

 

[Sttew]

A legend of the GFC who so, so deserves a premiership as captain.

 

[cats_09]

Question posed by krock - agree or disagree with their answer?

 

[thecatattack]

Question posed by krock - agree or disagree with their answer?

Greatest? I'd maybe have Selwood no.1 or no.2 above GAJ.

 

[cats_09]

Greatest? I'd maybe have Selwood no.1 or no.2 above GAJ.

I'm similar in thinking

No doubting the talent of GAJ, but does he drop down a spot for the 110 games played at GC and not playing his entire career with Geelong?

 

[dazbroncos]

GAS
Selwood
GAJ

GAJ better skills overall but he left the club for 8 years.

Selwood the best from the front leader we've had IMO.

Harley also in that conversation.

But Sel's contribution to the club is unparalleled.

GO Catters

 

[thecatattack]

I'm similar in thinking

No doubting the talent of GAJ, but does he drop down a spot for the 110 games played at GC and not playing his entire career with Geelong?

I’d say so, yes. He spent the best years of his career on another team.

 

[thecatattack]

This podcast talked a bit about Joel and was good. They discuss his pre-2006 training session and how the leadership group went to Wells and said we have to draft him and then how Wells was hellbent on Boak or Joel. Worth a listen.

Great story from Lingy on the club podcast this week about when the skipper came down to training at the Cattery (as part of the AFL Academy) in the early stages of 2006. After a couple of days, a number of players went to Wellsy and told him you have to do whatever you can to get this bloke. He already looked like he was part of the group and it was as if he had been around the place for several years.

Wells told them thanks very much but that there was next to no chance that a gun like Selwood would be available at their pick. We were coming off PF/SF finishes in the previous two seasons, and Joel was pretty much expected to go at pick 1. As events unfolded, of course, our 2006 season imploded, leaving us with pick 7 to take to the draft. And Joel did his knee and slid (somewhat) down the pecking order.

And this is where it gets even better. Wells apparently told his wife before heading off to the draft that if he was able to call out the name of either J. Selwood or T. Boak on the night, he would be a very happy man. So when Boak went at pick 5 to Port, Wells thought he was done and started formulating his next plan for how to salvage the pick. When, lo and behold, the Hawks called out the name of M. Thorp at pick 6 instead. Supposedly he couldn't get the words out quick enough (and was stumbling over the syllables) when he then announced J. Selwood with our pick. Only to coolly slide one T. Hawkins onto the list with pick 41 (father/son) a little later on as well.

And so, through the acquisition of the skipper, a huge component of changing our club's trajectory was locked into place. Not mostly through astute talent identification but instead through a series of unforeseen circumstances and missteps from others (and even ourselves, in having such a pitiful '06 season). And the Hawks (who have supposedly 'cost us' so much, according to some) actually played their part in confirming our '07 - '11 ascendancy.

Sometimes truth is absolutely stranger than fiction.

gyc told the story the told perfectly for anyone interested

 

[Sttew]

How long will it be before something to be posted on the main board about Joel's 350 games, and the haters derail the thread with the usual garbage. As certain as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west....

 

[FredLeDeux]

How long will it be before something to be posted on the main board about Joel's 350 games, and the haters derail the thread with the usual garbage. As certain as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west....

He'll just have to put his head down and charge through it, as usual