Milestones to make big day even bigger
A GROUP of Cats, including the clubs “big three” are on the verge of reaching unique milestones in tonight’s grand final.
Gary Ablett, Joel Selwood, Patrick Dangerfield, Harry Taylor and Luke Dahlhaus all have accolades on the horizon — but some will depend on whether the Cats win.
When Selwood, 32, runs out on to the Gabba, he will become the sixth player in VFL/AFL history to captain a club for 200 or more games.
After taking over the captaincy prior to the 2012 season following the retirement of Cameron Ling, Selwood has since led his team for nine seasons, with 199 games and eight finals campaigns as captain to his name.
He is set to join the likes of AFL greats Stephen Kernahan (226 games), Dick Reynolds (224 games), Nick Riewoldt (220 games), Ted Whitten (212 games) and Michael Voss (210) as the league’s longest-serving captains.
Having been captained by Selwood for his whole career, teammate Tom Stewart said the role the skipper plays for the club was “second to none”.
“Since I have come into the program he has really evolved in his capacity as a captain,” Stewart said. “The way he has adapted and evolved in the last few years in particular shows how much he loves this footy club and how desperate he is for us all to have success.
“He is as brave as they come and he stands up in the big moments, he is everything you aspire to be as the leader of a footy club or as a player in general.
“He is a bloke that you stand a bit taller when you walk out next to him.”
Young gun Gryan Miers said Selwood was someone he has also always admired from afar, and since joining the side last year, has relished his leadership. “I have so much respect for him as a captain, I think he is the greatest captain even though I have only had one captain,” Miers said.
“He deserves to get the trophy and hold it up himself as captain because he has been so successful for so long and we don’t want to let him down.”
Should Geelong be successful tonight, it will be 13 years since teammates Selwood and Ablett played in the 2007 premiership.
It is the equal-second longest gap for any player in the game’s history, behind only Michael Tuck, who played in premierships for Hawthorn in 1976 and 1991, among his seven flags.
Ablett, who is set to take to the field for the last game of his 19-year career, will also become the fourth oldest player in history to be part of a premiership side if the Cats win.
The only players older than Ablett, 36, to win a flag were Tuck (38) and Charlie Hardy (who won premierships at both 36 and 38-years-old).
Veteran Taylor is also set to play his 31st final — which will be the equal-fourth highest tally in history, drawing him level with Hall of Fame legend Gordon Coventry.
The only players to have played more finals are Tuck (39), Shaun Burgoyne (35) and Joel Selwood (33).
Dangerfield could also become a premiership player in his 269th game on Saturday.
Only three players have played more games before winning a premiership — Shane Crawford (305), Paul Williams (294) and Matthew Boyd (282).
Meanwhile, Dahlhaus has the opportunity to become a premiership player at two clubs, having played in the 2016 Western Bulldogs’ flag.
No Western Bulldogs/ Footscray premiership player has ever played in a flag with another club.
All other clubs with premierships since the league’s inception in 1897 have at least one player to have also played in a flag with another club at some point in their career.
The milestone would see Dahlhaus join an exclusive group of 30 players in the history of the game to have played in a flag with two clubs.
(SELWOOD) IS AS BRAVE AS THEY COME AND HE STANDS UP IN THE BIG MOMENTS, HE IS EVERYTHING YOU ASPIRE TO BE AS THE LEADER OF A FOOTY CLUB OR AS A PLAYER IN GENERAL.”
TOM STEWART