THE WARRIOR CLASS
“IT’S hard to beat a person who never gives up.’’
Legendary slugger Babe Ruth was most likely talking about himself, as he liked to do, but the sentiment can be borrowed to perfectly describe Joel Selwood and Chris Scott.
Read the quote again.
It is Joel Selwood. It doesn’t mean he always wins, but it means he hasn’t stopped trying to win over a combative and ruthless 14year career, and the respect for him is universal.
For the coach, it’s different in role but the same in contest. Scott took over a damn good team that needed new guidance and won the premiership in his first season. And for every season since, bar one, he has given Geelong and its supporters a shot at the title.
The Cats have been good enough to win it and missed, and not been good enough and been bounced.
But similar to Selwood, not once has Scott ever surrendered.
Asked to describe the trait that first bonded and expanded across a decade together, their responses are from the same playbook.
“We should share the same vision and we do,” Selwood says. “We think we’re good enough. We don’t think we should ever give up on a season.
“By saying that, we don’t believe we need to go to the bottom to be able to compete again. If you sum it up, that’s as simple as it gets.
“We’re competitors and we love competing each year and we give our best and sometimes we won’t be good enough because we don’t have the cattle, but we’ll have a crack together.”
Scott says “it’s competitiveness”.
“The will to win, a will bordering on bloody mindedness at times,’’ he adds.
For a decade, side-by-side, in the face of criticism personally and for the club collective, the captain and coach have kept climbing the mountain. And the coach couldn’t be prouder of his captain.
“I won’t do the description justice,” Scott says. “If any player I’ve had experience with had earned the right to, if not give up but just relax a bit, it would be Joel. He could’ve said a couple of years ago when he was starting to run into injuries … look, it could’ve
gone one of two ways. He could’ve rolled over and been a bit part player and play a lesser role, or the other option was even worse and that’s become the grumpy old player.
“He refused to give in to those temptations. I’m most proud of him because of the way he performed when it’s been hard.”
Selwood captains his 200th game today, which
means Selwood and Scott have been captain-coach for 200 games. It’s a remarkable achievement. Another 16 games and they will surpass Essendon’s Dick Reynolds record for the number games involved as a captain-coach.
After Selwood-Scott comes Wayne Carey-Denis Pagan (184 matches) and Michael Voss-Leigh Matthews (191 matches).
Today, when Selwood and
Scott stand side by side when the national anthem is played, they will have earned the right to be there.
Not because they were one of two teams to survive this extraordinary COVID-19 season, but because they have survived a decade of change and challenge and yet again given themselves and all Geelong fans their best shot at the title.
“The part I appreciate the
most in that it’s been earned,” Scott says. “It’s been hard work. We’re all really aware you need some luck in this world, but we’ve worked really hard to give ourselves that chance again.”
AFL GRAND FINAL
Who: Geelong Cats v Richmond Tigers When: 6.30pm Where: Live on Kayo, Seven, 7 Plus