Joel Selwood
Updated: Wikipedia source
Joel Anthony Selwood (born 26 May 1988) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a four-time premiership player (including one time as captain), a six-time All-Australian, and a three-time captain of the All-Australian team. Selwood captained Geelong between 2012 and 2022, has won the Carji Greeves Medal three times as their best and fairest player, and holds the record for longest-serving captain in the AFL. A standout junior track and field athlete and footballer, Selwood entered top-level football early, joining the TAC Cup competition as a bottom-aged player. His accomplishments as a junior included Most Valuable Player awards at state and international levels, and he earned selection in the under-18 All-Australian and TAC Cup Team of the Year sides as a junior. A potential top pick in the 2006 AFL draft, Selwood sustained a serious knee injury during his final year of junior football that caused him to fall to Geelong's first pick at seventh overall. Selwood made his AFL debut in 2007, winning the AFL Rising Star Award and AFLPA Best First-Year Player Award. He set a VFL/AFL record with a 92% winning percentage in his first 50 games (46–4), and he was a member of three premiership teams with Geelong in his first five seasons (2007, 2009, and 2011), the last of which as vice-captain. With Selwood made captain of the team in 2012, Geelong made the finals in all but one season during his tenure, playing in seven preliminary finals and two Grand Finals—culminating in Geelong's tenth premiership in 2022, after which Selwood retired. Selwood has been recognized for his leadership abilities, his high levels of courage, and his consistency throughout most of his career. He was appointed captain at just 23 years old, and he has won the AFLPA Best Captain Award. He is a four-time recipient of the AFLPA Robert Rose Most Courageous Player Award. He has played in 20 games every full season of his career, and averaged over 24 disposals per game over his career, including at least 20 disposals in every full season except his debut year. He polled double-digit Brownlow votes for 11 consecutive seasons, including 27 votes in 2013 when he was runner-up for the award. Selwood excelled at breaking tackles and earning free kicks, although his methods of drawing free kicks were a constant source of annoyance to critics throughout his career. He also averaged about five tackles per game and has the second-most tackles in VFL/AFL history behind Scott Pendlebury.