Geelong skipper ready to step it up

GEELONG captain Joel Selwood will gradually increase his output on the training track in the lead up to Christmas with the aim of returning to the Cats’ main training group in the new year.

Selwood missed the last three games of the home-andaway season but returned for finals after suffering a syndesmosis ankle injury in Geelong’s Round 20 loss to Sydney earlier in the year.

He played a minor role in the recent International Rules series against Ireland and is on light duties as he pushes to rejoin his teammates in a fulltime capacity after the Christmas break.

The 29-year-old said he was buoyant about the prospect of being ready to attack the preseason with his usual levels of gusto in January.

“The ankle is really good. It was a little bit planned that it would work this way until Christmas time so I’ll just get to Christmas feeing good and then look forward to pushing through after that,” Selwood said.

“I’d say I’ll be back in the program next week, to an extent, with the boys.

“We’ve got a lot of guys coming off long-term injuries. Nakia Cockatoo, Cory Gregson and then guys who were limping towards the end of the year like myself, Mark Blicavs and James Parsons.

“So it’s important that we prepare in this time and then come January, look to go a little bit harder. It’s just important that we prepare our way and look forward to what the next season will bring.”

Much of the pre-season hype at Geelong has been around the recruitment of twotime Brownlow medallist Gary Ablett, who played in two premierships with Selwood before moving to the Gold Coast at the end of 2010.

The Cats skipper, who was at the newly-named GMHBA Stadium yesterday as the club unveiled the insurance provider as its naming rights sponsor for the next 10 years, said it was difficult not to think about what it would be like to play alongside Ablett and Patrick Dangerfield in 2018.

“We’ve obviously brought in a couple of new players, which has been exciting, and we’ll just look to build on where we got to last year,” he said.

“I’m absolutely looking forward to playing with both [Dangerfield and Ablett]. It’s always been my dream to play with the best players you possibly can and we were lucky to get Gaz back this year.

“I still think he’s got a hell of a lot of good footy in front of him. I look forward to what he can bring to the footy club.’’