Joel Selwood holds the 2022 Premiership Cup aloft following his last career game.
(AFL Photos)
Joel Selwood will be forever remembered as one of the all-time great players and captains to ever play the game.
After 16 seasons at the Cattery, 34-year-old long-serving player and captain, Joel Selwood has decided to retire, finishing his remarkable record-breaking career with a premiership win.
Selwood ended his career in fine fashion, retiring after winning his fourth premiership against the Sydney Swans. This premiership was especially special for Selwood, as it was his first premiership win as captain of the Geelong Cats.
After taking over the captaincy role from Cameron Ling ahead of the 2012 season, Selwood has led the Geelong Cats to so many finals series without premiership success.
With Selwood winning his fourth premiership, he has now followed the recent trend of preceding captains, Tom Harley (2009) and Cameron Ling (2011), who hung up the boots after claiming the ultimate prize.
With an incredible 355 games played; he retires with a decorated career.
Selwood has broken many records such as being the longest-serving captain in VFL/AFL history. He also broke the record for most VFL/AFL finals played in his last ever game being the Grand Final, surpassing Michael Tuck's long-standing benchmark of 39.
In the press conference days after the premiership win, Selwood said he knew heading into the final’s series that these would be the last appearances of his distinguished career, despite several teammates wanting him to play on.
"This is actually probably a little bit easier for me today than probably what most people would think. About six weeks ago I decided that 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 said.
Geelong coach Chris Scott spent 12 years with Selwood and said in the press conference that he would be “irreplaceable” on and off the field.
Selwood informed Scott of his decision at a private meeting before the Cats’ win over West Coast in round 23, which propelled them into the finals series.
“The thing that continually struck me about Joel was his ability to care for others and prioritise others,” Scott said.
“When you take everything into consideration, he’s the best player I’ve ever seen and the best representative of the Geelong footy club that you could possibly imagine."
Selwood made his AFL debut in 2007, winning the AFL Rising Star Award and AFLPA Best First-Year Player Award. From his first couple of seasons, Selwood was already making his mark on the game and breaking records.
He set a VFL/AFL record with a 92 percent winning percentage in his first 50 games (46–4). He was also an integral and crucial member of three premiership teams with Geelong in his first five seasons (2007, 2009, and 2011).
It felt like despite all of Selwood’s success throughout the years, there was still something missing on his decorated career, and this was being labelled as a premiership captain.
Throughout the 2022 home and away season, Geelong were clearly the best team all year and were peaking at the right time of the season right before finals.
Geelong went into the finals series as red-hot favourites for the premiership.
With questions over Selwood’s playing future, many already thought that the 2022 season could potentially be Selwood’s last, especially if Geelong won the Grand Final.
And with an 81-point thumping win over Sydney Swans, Selwood fulfilled his dream of becoming a premiership captain.
Selwood's emotion after kicking a final-quarter goal, which he described as the "best goal he's ever kicked”, gave all viewers the hint that the Grand Final was to be his last game.
Congratulations Joel on a wonderful career. A special human being that will be sorely missed.
A true legend of Geelong, whose legacy will live on both on and off the field and will never be forgotten.
Selwood's decorated career
AFL games: 355 (W259, L95, D1 - winning percentage 72.96 per cent)
AFL goals: 175
Captaincy: 2012-2022 (245 games)
Career averages: 24.7 disposals, 11.2 contested possessions, 5.1 tackles, 5.2 clearances
Disposals: 8,746
Tackles: 1,799
Brownlow votes: 214 (No.7 in all-time rankings)
Honours
Premiership player (2007, 2009, 2001, 2022), Premiership captain (2022)
6x All-Australian (2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017 - Captain, 2013, 2014, 2016)
4× AFLPA Robert Rose Most Courageous Player Award (2009, 2012, 2013, 2014)
3x club best and fairest (2010, 2013, 2014)
AFL Rising Star (2007)
Geelong Captain (2012–2022)
AFLPA best captain award (2013)
Herald Sun Player of the Year (2014)
Ron Evans Medal (2007)
AFLPA best first year player award (2007)
Opmerkingen