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Geelong coach Chris Scott says the club “won the footy lottery” when they got Joel Selwood, in an emotional and moving tribute to the retiring great.
Selwood announced his retirement on Wednesday after 355 games and four premierships – his first as captain coming just four days ago.
Scott paid tribute to his selfless captain, who he described as “irreplaceable”.
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“It’s impossible to quantity (what Selwood means to him) – the on-field is impossible to replicate, the off field is impossible to replicate,” Scott said.
“There won’t be much cap space because Joel leaving. He could have had us over a barrel – we would have paid him whatever he asked for but he never did.
“The greatest going out on top – I can’t think of a better way for Joel to finish.”
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Scott described Selwood – a 2006 top 10 draft pick -as the “best player I’ve ever seen” in a beautiful moment at the great’s retirement press conference.
“He was the best representation of the Geelong footy club you could ever imagine,” Scott said.
“We won the footy lottery getting to spend a decade with Joel Selwood.
“It’s just been a privilege for us to get to learn from the great man.”
Scott and Selwood were a coach-player duo for 261 games for the Cats, after Scott came on as coach for the 2011 season.
Scott said he knew from the get-go that Selwood was a selfless player who only had the club’s best interests at heart.
“He’ll still be our biggest fan … he doesn’t know any other way and it’s only one of the reasons we love him,” he said.
“It struck me from the day I met him, he was always putting others in front of him.
“I think we all feel much better prepared for the next few years at least, because of the 12 years Joel has invested in all of us.”
Scott said even in Selwood’s final minutes of his AFL career, he was thinking of others.
“Joel picked up the phone down on the bench (late in the grand final) … it just sort of struck me, again it should have been his moment, but he wanted to share it with me,” he said.
Selwood bows out of the game as one of the all-time greats with 355 games, as a six-time All Australian and three-time Geelong best and fairest winner.
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