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Joel Selwood’s classy act has struck a chord with an American audience.
The Geelong captain’s perfect day in the Cats’ Grand Final thrashing of the Swans continues to get better and better.
Selwood and teammate Tom Hawkins were left in tears as they celebrated their premiership while rumours swirl around the skipper’s potential retirement at the age of 34.
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The Cats were the best team on the field throughout the season and the celebrations after the match showed what champions the club’s biggest stars are off it as well.
Social media was all praise for Selwood, who would have been well within his rights to make the moment all about himself and his teammates.
Instead, the 34-year-old accepted his premiership medal and had a brilliant moment with the Auskicker, giving the kid his boots and posing for a picture in a lovely moment.
It came after tear-jerking moments before the game when Cats champion Gary Ablett Jr.’s son Levi was carried onto the field by Selwood, leading the premiers onto the MCG.
It was just the beginning for Selwood.
In a video shared of the victory lap in front of thousands of excited Cats fans, Selwood found Sam Moorfoot in the crowd.
Moorfoot is well known at the Cats as the club’s water boy, a job he has held for the past seven years.
The 29-year-old Moorfoot, who has Down syndrome, has become a fixture at the Cats since 2015, where he hit it off with Cats skipper Selwood as well as the rest of the squad.
Selwood and Moorfoot have previously spoken about the special friendship they have.
Selwood made sure Moorfoot didn’t miss out on the celebrations and they shared a special moment on the fence of the MCG as Moorfoot was helped onto the field to celebrate with Cats players.
After helping him over the barrier and onto the MCG, Cats star Jeremy Cameron took off his own medal and put it around Moorfoot’s neck in tremendous scenes.
A video of the emotional moment has since taken off on social media with more than seven million people seeing the video footage on Twitter.
He was also with the team when they sung the club song in the rooms.
The story kept getting better at the Cats’ Mad Monday when Moorfoot arrived to celebrate with the rest of the players.
In August, Moorfoot, who plays for the Geelong Dragons in the Football Integration Development Association made a grand final of his own against Kananook Bulls, but fell short in a 16.10 (106) to 8.3 (51) loss.
Selwood, who is the AFL’s inaugural Disability Inclusion Ambassador, told The Age in August he was behind Sammy for the big game.
“Sam has let everyone know about the big game this week. He’s not shy of that,” Selwood said.
“He was even caught earlier in the week doing hot and cold recovery with the boys at the club. We’re all really excited for him.”
While Sammy couldn’t get his medal on his own grand final day, Selwood made sure he didn’t miss out on his big day.
Moorfoot had been working at the Cats Bistro as a volunteer when the GMHBA Stadium was redeveloped and the bistro closed.
The team made him the head water boy on the team’s main training day.
Selwood said of his bond with Moorfoot via The Age: “We share a very special friendship, and I consider him like family. He has my back and I have his.”
Moorfoot also shared his admiration for the Cats skipper.
“I think Joel is amazing. A great role model but also a little bit cheeky. He treats me like a brother and always looks out for me,” Moorfoot said.
“There isn’t one player at Geelong that isn’t kind and supportive. They are all my mates.”
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