SELWOOD HOPEFUL OF MILESTONE CROWD
A LOOMING double milestone for Geelong midfield champions Joel Selwood and Gary Ablett could yet be played in front of a crowd at GMHBA Stadium, but the Cats skipper says he is hopeful rather than confident of restrictions easing in time for that to happen.
Selwood is set to play game 300, against the Gold Coast on Saturday, July 4, the same day Ablett notches his 350th.
Speaking after a National Cabinet meeting last week, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said governments across the country were working towards rules which would allow venues capable of seating up to 40,000 people to host crowds of up to 10,000, with states and territories on track to implement the changes in July.
It means there is a slim possibility the Cats could celebrate the grand occasion — only four Geelong players have played 300 games for the club — with supporters and players’ families, but Selwood said his main priority was simply to get a win over the Suns.
“It would be fantastic to have them (family and friends) there and I am still hopeful but it is not something I am going to lose sleep over just at the moment because as we have seen over this period things change quite quickly,” he said on the ABC Grandstand.
“I will remain hopeful and we will see how it plays out but it is a really big night for the club, we understand that, with Gary having his 350th that night.
“At the end of the day Gary and I just want the result to fall our way more than anything else, but it would be nice to share it with those people who have been there along the way and have shown support.”
After a weekend dominated by talk surrounding the length of quarters and matches, Selwood said everyone in the game had a choice about how to deal with footy’s new normal.
“I think we can complain about it all we want or we can get on with it and understand it is going to be like that for the year,” he said.
“Sides will get better at rotations and coaches will get better at coaching against it, but hopefully for supporters we can get that free-flowing footy where we see sides kick multiple goals and big scores because that is what will bring people back to the game.”