SCOTT GIVES BUMP ALONG
GEELONG midfielder Scott Selwood harbours no illfeeling towards Lindsay Thomas for the ugly bump that left him concussed — but believes the three-match ban was “the right outcome”.
Selwood has put his hand up to play in tomorrow night’s match against Greater Western Sydney after missing last week’s loss to Sydney as a result of being ironed out by Thomas in Round 5 against Port Adelaide.
Former Geelong player Cameron Ling led the outrage, calling the hit a “dog act” after the Power player went past the ball and chose to bump his opponent, who was down to collect the footy.
Selwood said he had been symptom-free since the weekend after battling through headaches last week to the point where he “didn’t feel right” sitting in team meetings.
He eventually was a late withdrawal, but said he was always unlikely, even though he gave himself every chance.
“I’m feeling good, it did take a while, I was getting headaches throughout the days and throughout the nights a little bit, which was a bit annoying,” Selwood said yesterday.
“But I’ve felt good for about five days now. I think we made the right call to not play on the weekend.”
He said Thomas had not reached out to him personally but believed the Port Adelaide player apologised for the incident through his legal representation at the tribunal.
“Everything is split-second in footy, so I won’t put it on him too much,” Selwood said about his thoughts of the bump.
“I think the tribunal is doing such a good job at trying to reach the right verdict at the moment.
“At times people are still getting a bit frustrated, but I think the right outcome was found for that one, that’s just my personal opinion.”
Selwood yesterday kickstarted Geelong’s Community Challenge, pledging $5000 through the AFLPA as the Cats seek to raise $1 million in a 24-hour rally to help fund their 10 flagship community programs. The appeal starts at 1pm today. It is understood about $750,000 in commitments have been made from sponsors and supporters.
“We think the programs we run really benefit the community,” he said.
“The Cats fans have been so generous with helping us (raise money) for the stand . . . so anything we can hope to get off them we really do appreciate, definitely, and it goes a long way with what we’re trying to do within the Geelong region.”