Geelong’s greatest ever: Cats champion Joel Selwood retires on the ultimate high

Geelong champion Joel Selwood has ended his AFL career on the ultimate high with the premiership captain confirming his retirement on Wednesday.

Selwood’s 355th and final game was steering the Cats to a brilliant 81-point victory over the Sydney Swans in the grand final.

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The 34-year-old revealed he made the decision six weeks ago. He said telling coach Chris Scott on the eve of the round 23 match against West Coast was incredibly tough.

He held off telling teammates on grand final week because he didn’t want them to lose focus.

“About six weeks ago, I decided 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.

“It was a decision made amongst my manager, who I wanted to catch up with before round 23. We then decided, as I got him to ask a few of the current players on the list - Mitch (Duncan), Tom Hawkins, Tom Stewart - over the year to just see how I’m going and if I should move on.

“I then touched base with Paddy Dangerfield to see how he thinks I’m going, just through background chats and they’re as loyal people as you would get. They all want me to play on. It’s not going to be the case.

“I went to Tommy and I decided we should speak to Hock (CEO Steve Hocking) and get his opinion. He said the same thing, it’s up to me whether I go on and I decided, out of that, that I could go probably at 85 per cent next year and everyone would look after me but I had to be all in and I just couldn’t do that.

“I’ve had such a fun year this year amongst the playing group, amongst this football club. Home life has been really good. Having a baby come February, which is exciting.

“And from there I had to go in and tell the coach on Friday morning before we played West Coast and I didn’t know that Hock hadn’t spoken to him so that was one of the toughest conversations I’ve had to do along with telling a few others.

“But that Friday morning, I went in there and basically told him I was OK, I was OK with the decision that I’d come to with Hock and Tommy and he wasn’t too sure what I was talking about but I had to explain to him that I wouldn’t be continuing on next year.”

Selwood held back tears as he explained a moment with 21-year-old Sam De Koning in the final quarter of the grand final.

“I take you into a moment on the weekend but I came off in the last quarter, Sam De Koning was on the interchange bench with me on one side, Blitz (Mark Blicavs) was on the other side and Sam just said, ‘You can’t finish’ which is pretty special,” he said.

“A 21-year-old kid probably read the moment, Blitz knew I was in a bit of trouble, the heart was racing, the eyes were watering and I knew that I was going out for my last 15 minutes of the game of my career and, yeah, I am a little bit soft.”

It caps a remarkable career that will see him go down as Geelong’s greatest ever player.

List of accolades

• 4 x premiership player (2007, 2009, 2011, 2022)
• 6 x All-Australian (2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017)
• 3 x best and fairest (2010, 2013, 2014)
• Rising Star winner (2007)
• Most games as captain in AFL history (227 games)
• Most finals ever played (40 finals)
• Geelong games record holder (355 games)

Selwood’s arrival at Geelong via pick No.7 in the 2006 draft coincided with the club turning into a powerhouse.

They won three premierships in the next five years before Selwood took over as captain at the end of 2011 at just 23 years of age.

Selwood made a record-breaking 40th finals appearance in the grand final thrashing of the Swans - one more than Hawthorn legend Michael Tuck.

Earlier this year, Selwood broke Carlton great Stephen Kernahan’s long-standing 226-game record for most games as an AFL/VFL club captain.

Under Selwood’s leadership, the Cats only missed the finals once (in 2015), but kept falling short of the premiership with numerous preliminary final capitulations and also losing to Richmond in the 2020 grand final.

Selwood got his crowning moment this year and will now follow former captains Cameron Ling (2011) and Tom Harley (2009) in retiring after leading the club to a flag.

Immediately after the siren went, emotions got the better of him in a brilliant moment with best mate Tom Hawkins.

Aside from his incredible list of achievement on the field, Selwood also showed why he is so respected off the field during the grand final.

After running through the banner with former teammate Gary Ablett’s son Levi in emotional scenes, Selwood’s post-match celebration with Sammy Moorfoot went viral.

He has also long been hailed for his character and community work and was this year’s Jim Stynes community leadership award winner.

Two-time Geelong premiership coach Chris Scott said that Selwood was the club’s greatest ever player.

“I said earlier this season leading into Joel’s 350th match that he is the greatest player I have seen, and I haven’t changed my mind,” Scott said.

“I feel so privileged to have worked with such a great captain and in terms of impact on a football club and support to a senior coach, I can’t think of anyone better.

“He’s an extraordinary player and has always prioritised others over individual achievements. I feel enormously proud and thankful to have been part of Joel Selwood’s career.”

- with AAP