Universal Love Joel Selwood - 350 Games

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cats_09 said:
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?
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I don't want to derail the thread because Selwood has been one of my favourite players of all time. Absolute champion almost from his first game and the longevity factor is a big one.

However, from 2007-2009:

GAJ won three coaches association awards, three players MVPs, two best and fairest awards, and one Brownlow (should've been 3 IMO) between 2007-2009 when the team played arguably it's greatest ever football and won two flags.

It's as good a run as any player in the history of the game and for me, was the biggest factor in what will undoubtedly be my favourite period as a Geelong supporter.

His return as a half forward flanker was a key impetus in us being contenders across 2019-2020 (2018 we simply misused him).

Selwood of course has him covered for longevity and loyalty as a Cat, but I think sometimes GAJ is still underappreciated for what he gave us simply because of the defection.
 
Hi all
Some of you who've been here a while may be aware that my "day-gig" is songwriter/music producer of some long-standing. I've been blessed to work with many iconic artists here and overseas for quite some time. I'm also a RABID Cats and AFL fanatic and to that end I'm putting together a series of (hopefully) extremely fun songs based around iconic AFL stars, mostly present and one past! First bcab off the rank is in honour of our might Captain Courageous, Joel Selwood. In the spirit of keeping it fun, it's an Ennio Morrocone-esque track called "He Came Pre-Bandaged - The Legend Of Joel Selwood". It's currently available too listen, share and download on iTunes and will be on Spotify and other streaming services over the next 2-3 days. The whole point is for as many people as possible to enjoy and celebrate the absolute legend that is Joel Selwood! Feel free to share, steal, distribute it in any way you see fit. If you enjoy it, let everyone know! Let's give Joel a hit record for his 350th!!!





PS Next cab off the rank in a couple of weeks is "The Little Master" (Gary has heard the track and loved it )
 
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cats_09 said:
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That the club has started its media pump up for the milestone says to me he won't be rested. He'd have to get injured this week.
 
Art Vandelay_ said:
That the club has started its media pump up for the milestone says to me he won't be rested. He'd have to get injured this week.
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That was my thining also

I know they’ve left it a little open with ”1 game from 350” - but why even put it out there on a Monday night if he won’t be playing this weekend
 

Selwood ‘the greatest Cats player ever’: Hawkins​

Geelong star forward Tom Hawkins says he has run out of superlatives for one of his “best friends” Joel Selwood, declaring the captain the “greatest Cats player to ever play.”

Hawkins is set to play alongside his skipper for the 300th time in their career against the Bulldogs at GMHBA Stadium in round 20, in the same game Selwood notches his 350th match.

It is a feat only achieved two other times with Adelaide’s Andrew McLeod and Tyson Edwards playing 307 games together, and Swans Adam Goodes and Jude Bolton playing 301 matches together.

Hawkins said he did not expect to play 300 games alongside the number 7 pick from his own draft class in 2006.

“We knew a little bit about each other before we got drafted, I vividly remember where I was when Geelong called out his name and I thought ‘how good is this’,” he said.

“I’d heard he’s an excellent player but from what I remember at the time he was a great person and I was really excited to play a year or two with him, I didn’t think it’d eventuate to 300 games together as teammates.

“It’s nice to be able to reflect and appreciate Joel Selwood, the player and impact he’s had for the club, I like it personally because he’s one of my best friends.

“I think milestones are a really enjoyable part of football, that might be your first game, your 100th, 200th or 350th.

“They’re special times for the individual to be celebrated, and particularly this one being the only Cat to have ever played 350 games.

“Maybe I’m a bit biased but I think he’s one of the greatest, if not the greatest Cats player to ever play.”

Selwood has been rested at times this season, playing 15 games and averaging 22.3 disposals, 3.1 marks, 4.5 tackles and 0.7 goals per game.

Hawkins said the pair shared a special connection in the moments before running out each week that had developed from years of repetition.

“Because we’ve both run out together so much, when you’re not there for the odd time that injury or suspension that hasn’t allowed us to, it’s a funny feeling,” he said.

“I wouldn’t even say it’s a routine or anything like that, or a superstition, but we always seem to find each other just before we run out onto the ground, wherever that may be.

“Usually it’s between when he has his last address inside and before we walk out the doors we find a way to see each other and try to inspire each other to perform at a higher level to help the group.

“It’s weird not playing with him, but thankfully we haven’t had to do that too much, we’ve been pretty lucky.”
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Joel Selwood during his 3km time trial at the draft combine in 2006.


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2009 AFL Grand Final, St Kilda Saints v Geelong Cats at the MCG in Melbourne. Joel Selwood and Tom Hawkins


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Selwood Family – Key Stats​

Joel has 253 wins in his career (from 349 games)
His brothers (Troy, Adam and Scott) combined have 222 wins (from 431 games)

Joel played 14 games against his brothers. He was on the winning side in 12 of them (including each of the first 10)

Played 31 games alongside Scott from 2016-2019. 19 wins from those games.
 
winty said:
www.afl.com.au

AFL congratulates Joel Selwood on 350 games

Joel Selwood will play his 350th AFL game on Saturday
www.afl.com.au www.afl.com.au

Will be the quickest to reach the 350 game milestone, having beaten Craig Bradley to it by a week.
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This is one of my favourite sets of key numbers from that link, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's one overlooked by many when looking back at his career

  • Holds the record for most tackles, most clearances and has the 4th most contested possessions since these stats have been recorded
 
cats_09 said:
This is one of my favourite sets of key numbers from that link, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's one overlooked by many when looking back at his career

  • Holds the record for most tackles, most clearances and has the 4th most contested possessions since these stats have been recorded
Click to expand...

All from ducking. Wild
 
❤️


The Warrior's Code: Selwood at 350​

Joel Selwood will become the first Cat to play 350 games this weekend, and Cats Media reflects on the skipper's journey to greatness
By Troy Daniel

is a scene that’s played out across nearly every suburb in the southern states of Australia at a certain time of the year.

Where little kids and their big dreams are chasing an odd shaped ball in parks, backyards, front yards, school yards and driveways, pretending to be their footy heroes.

It was no different in Strathdale, a suburb three kilometers east of the Bendigo city centre, home to the Selwood family, and countless others living the suburban Australian dream.

While older brothers Adam and Troy were still at school, younger siblings Scott and Joel would finish up early and gather around the light post out the front of their house.

Whether your weapon of choice was a banana, a torp, a drop punt or a snap, the challenge was the same: hit the post. And the prize? Five red frogs.

The boys would battle it out until the sun dipped below the horizon and Mum, Maree, would call them in for dinner.

Joel Selwood’s competitive fire burned brightly from a young age, but it was matched by a skill that was apparent early. Really early.

As the story goes a five year old Joel would pester Maree and Dad, Bryce, to take him down to Auskick with his brothers until they relented and dropped him off.

Maree picks up the story from here.

"The next week we went back and he was with the grade twos and after that, the twins said, 'that's it, he's not coming any more... we can't have him ending up with us', she told the Bendigo Advertiser in 2019.

"So he was advancing every week and was certainly capable of holding his own against grade three and four kids, even when he was in prep.”

But the one thing he seemed destined to do as he charged through the junior ranks, play AFL football, was suddenly in doubt when a persistent knee injury threatened to derail it all.

He would go under the knife four times before his 18th birthday, and after the fourth operation, the surgeon delivered some crushing news.

“We'd tried to do something with it in Bendigo to fix it, but it didn't work out,” Bryce told the Advertiser.

“So we went down to Melbourne and the surgeon indicated that someone undergoing this operation would have the use of his knee, but that there was the likelihood that he'd never play sport at an elite level."

The usually stoic young Selwood was crushed.

"Joel was a real rough nut as a kid and you really had to hurt him to make him cry. He'd hardly cry, but he came home that day and there were tears," Maree said.

"I remember saying to him, 'Joel, you can do it, let's prove the surgeon wrong', and giving him all the right words to turn those tears into determination and that's exactly what he did.”

In a way, it could explain why he plays the game the way he does today, attacking every contest as if it’s his last, because, at some point, it may have been.

But one thing we do know for sure, it is the reason he is celebrating his 350th game as a Cat this weekend.

To this day, he still does exercises he did as a sixteen year old and he has said the knee is now possibly the strongest part of his body.

It also ensured the clubs picking ahead of Geelong in the 2006 draft all ducked the prodigiously talented junior for fear the leg wouldn’t hold up.

Geelong premiership captain Cameron Ling likes to tell a story about the day the young Selwood spent a week training at Kardinia Park as part of the old AIS AFL Academy.

“We generally got any (Geelong) Falcons kids who made the Academy or country kids would end up here," he told the To The Final Bell podcast last week.

“We got a kid from Bendigo named Joel Selwood, who came and trained with us for a week in 2006.

“It is fair to say that I and most other senior players quickly went and visited (Recruiting Manager) Stephen Wells and asked about the likelihood of us ending up with Joel even after that week.

“He didn't go out there and have 30 touches in a 15-minute drill, but it just looked like we were watching a bloke who'd been training with us for three years and was on our list.”

Sounding like a Kodak washed scene from an old sports movie, Selwood says he spent draft night in Strathdale at home with his family listening to it on a ‘crackly radio’ when he heard his name called by Wells, and an iconic career was born.

His accolades, achievements, and awards are too numerous to mention. They read like a kaleidoscope of not just greatness, but of heart, persistence, determination, and bravery and a tribute to what he calls the ‘lonely hours' of work and preparation to be Joel Selwood.

Selwood himself appears to be still processing what the milestone means to him when he spoke to Cats Media this week.

“I'm actually not sure how to put it,” he said.

“A couple of weeks ago when Scott Pendlebury made the milestone and I saw how big the occasion was for the Collingwood footy club, it made me understand that it's probably going to be bigger than I thought.

“[And] I appreciate that others will enjoy it too.

“I’ve always understood how old the footy club is, I've loved that aspect of it. I barracked for the Cats as a kid but never dreamt of going on to play this many games, but the journey has been so fun and I think that's what has made it all go so fast and enjoyable.”

In many ways, the little boy kicking a football at that light post until dark at the top of his driveway is the same kid who will pull on the hoops for the 350th time but under the much, much brighter lights of GMHBA Stadium on Saturday night.

A relentless, big-hearted competitor who beat the odds and grew up to have an unmeasurable impact on his beloved Geelong Football Club.

But don’t ask him about retirement, or what’s after footy, because there’s unfinished business burning in the gut of the greatest Cats captain of all this season, and the prize is far greater than a handful of red frogs.


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Rewind 2022: The Warrior's Code

Joel Selwood played his 350 games for the Cats against the Western Bulldogs at GMHBA Stadium in Round 20. Here's what we said at the time.
www.geelongcats.com.au www.geelongcats.com.au
 
Greatest ever player for Geelong imo, an absolute legend for the club, the fact he could walk into and have such an impact straight away on a team in 2007 that would win the flag and create a dynasty says it all. Very unlucky to not have a well deserved brownlow (Selwood and Pendlebury are the only players in the top 10 all time brownlow votes to not win a brownlow). If i recall the Suns also come with their bag of money wanting Selwood in 2010 too, he rejected it, said he wanted to be a cat for life and I think he signed a contract that meant he was willing to accept less if Ablett stayed at the Cats, that's the type of club man he is.

Never thought he would play 350 with the way he plays the game. Thoroughly deserves that 4th flag and I really hope this is the year he gets it
 
Overhang said:
Greatest ever player for Geelong imo, an absolute legend for the club, the fact he could walk into and have such an impact straight away on a team in 2007 that would win the flag and create a dynasty says it all. Very unlucky to not have a well deserved brownlow (Selwood and Pendlebury are the only players in the top 10 all time brownlow votes to not win a brownlow). If i recall the Suns also come with their bag of money wanting Selwood in 2010 too, he rejected it, said he wanted to be a cat for life and I think he signed a contract that meant he was willing to accept less if Ablett stayed at the Cats, that's the type of club man he is.

Never thought he would play 350 with the way he plays the game. Thoroughly deserves that 4th flag and I really hope this is the year he gets it
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It is absolutely crazy that neither Selwood or Pendlebury have Brownlows.

Tom Mitchell, Neale, Wines, Cotchin (Watson) and Priddis all won Brownlows during their careers. All very good players but not legends.
 
Mr Meow said:
It is absolutely crazy that neither Selwood or Pendlebury have Brownlows.

Tom Mitchell, Neale, Wines, Cotchin (Watson) and Priddis all won Brownlows during their careers. All very good players but not legends.
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Should have got it the year Priddis won it.
Was also unlucky the year gaz won his 2nd. Gaz polled 3 in the last round to pinch it.
 
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