Cat purring up forward
Midfielder relishing his switch
AFL: Geelong hard man Scott Selwood expects to be given a similar role against Melbourne on Friday week to the one he played in the Cats’ two huge wins to round out the regular season.
Selwood was used primarily as a forward against Fremantle and Gold Coast, a considerable change from his usual role of running through the midfield.
But the 28-year-old has impressed in his two outings inside the forward-50m, creating ample scoring opportunities for teammates on the back of his work rate and pressure.
Selwood said he had relished the positional move and predicted he would be deployed in attack again when the Cats took on the Demons next week.
“It’s been a bit different – there is a bit of craft to it that I am probably still learning a little bit and am adjusting to, but I do enjoy it and it is something different and if I can create some more flexibility for the team and help out, I love it,” Selwood said.
“The boys are quick to whip me into line when I’m not in the right spot or getting in their way, and that is what you want. We have good leaders down there that are helping me out.
“It is something we have slowly come up with and I just have to play to my strengths, so try to pressure, tackle and see if I can get in dangerous spots.
“I’m slowly learning that craft so that I can try to get rewarded and help out the other guys on the scoreboard when possible ... and I think the midfield has been working pretty well, so most likely it will look the same (in finals) I would have thought.”
Geelong won its past two games, against Fremantle and Gold Coast, by a combined margin of 235 points, prompting some commentators to question whether such matches were the ideal preparation leading into the finals.
But Selwood was confident the convincing wins had been a beneficial way to round out the home-and-away season.
“We can only do what we can do, I guess, and to do that to teams that we should do it to means that we are ready to go and building momentum,” he said.
“I thought we started to play a bit more four-quarter footy (against Gold Coast) and started to put it all together a bit.
“Against Freo we adjusted a little bit after quarter-time but then started to play a bit stronger after that, so I think that is a positive that we can take out of it and just keep building on what our best brand looks like.”