Is Joel Selwood overrated?

[benrick]

Has played 43 matches so far in his career, has gotten 15 or more touches in all but 4 of those, he also averages over 4 tackles a game - not bad for an 18-20yr old. His value to Geelong cannot be questioned, when Ablett was injured, Selwood essentially played his role, becoming the go-to man. He definitely isn't the sixth best player in the competition, but the players voted this and it shows what high regard he is held in.

One of the best games he played in was Round 5 against Kangaroos down at Geelong. In the match that ultimately sent Geelong on their ridiculous winning run, Selwood had 25 touches and 9 tackles in just his fourth game. I think the rest of the team saw his commitment and realised what was needed to be done to become a great team. The Cats have only lost 2 games since.

Barring injury, will dominate the competition for the best part of a decade. He is a deadset freak! IT IS JUST HIS SECOND SEASON!!!!

 

[Handyandy]

1) He had 25 touches that night, all whilst being tagged by one of the best in the business, Brett Kirk.
If that's 'struggling', then you must have awfully high expectations for the kid.

2) It wasn't a "landslide win" at all. It was a tough, hard game.



Cats fans?

The media (and now his fellow players) pump him up as much as any supporter does.

Are they all wrong?

I think the media get a little carried away sometimes and this is a good example. I watched the game and Selwood struggled badly, he had zero impact. Until he;

a) becomes a good enough player for opposition coaches to warrant a tag consistently
b) learns how to break this tag
c) plays in a team that is not one of the most dominant in history

then he will always be questioned.

 

[Pratt = Premiers]

No doubting he is a young gun, but lets be honest, top 6, i don't think so.

Would he be as dominate at Melbourne or West Coast or Carlton. Not a chance in hell.

I remember a bloke by the name of Des Headland who was a star at that age, came 3rd in the brownlow and also played along side the likes of Voss, Aker, Lappin, Power. He then went west and i don't know if he has had a kick since.

 

[Pratt = Premiers]

He is a dead set gun.

And we are very lucky 6 other clubs were foolish enough to pass on him.

Think of him what you will, he will just go out and dominate. Never seen a kid hit the packs that hard.

Why do people continue to bring this up. I can assure you if the Carlton selectors took Selwood at pick 1 i would have been rather pissed off. Yes he has turned out to be a gem, but taking someone with some doubts over his fitness at pick 1 is crazy. If he hadn't of worked out at pick 7 no one would have cared, but had the number 1 draft pick turned out to be a spud because he couldn't actually get on the park, the whole AFL community would have been laughing at them. Carlton did the right thing in my view, and as it has turned out, Gibbs is a star anyway. Very happy with our pick.

 

[Duskfire]

For those who claim Selwood is largely only as good because of the side he is in, while that may be true to some extent, alot of us Geelong fans are excited because he gets his own ball, because of his hardness and enthusiasm and good ball skills. He doesnt have the ball fed to him constantly by better players; he gets it himself and fights hard to do so.

But best six... yeah probably not. But he is definetly not overrated. The thing he is able to do at su8ch a young age are amazing.

 

[QuietB]

No doubting he is a young gun, but lets be honest, top 6, i don't think so.

Would he be as dominate at Melbourne or West Coast or Carlton. Not a chance in hell.

I remember a bloke by the name of Des Headland who was a star at that age, came 3rd in the brownlow and also played along side the likes of Voss, Aker, Lappin, Power. He then went west and i don't know if he has had a kick since.

Not sure Headland is a good comparison - he was nothing more than an outside mid at Brisbane being be spoon fed by Voss and Black. Selwood is a jet who as noted gets his own ball. I dont think I have ever seen him recieving the cheapy around the back either - must be team rule about seniority in the midfield or something

 

[Shelly]

Anyone that thinks he looks good just because he is in a good team needs to watch Geelong more! The kid has lifted the team by himself quite a few times now.

He was praised as Geelongs best player against the Kangaroos when they were struggling early last year. No easy ball that day he just went in and got it. He certainly showed all the other Cats how to get the ball that day in his 4 or 5th senior game! The coach said he was dissapointed that it took the youngest kid in the side to show how it was done!

 

[jman_cool]

First point - it's obvious that most of you don't watch much footy except for your own team. Second point - All you knuckheads that say JS is overrated seem to forget, the team you so passionately support, the players in your team voted JS number 6....... Saying JS is overrated is saying your team's players are dumb and stupid. Next time your teams coming off the ground after getting beaten, don't forget to remind them they are stupid for voting for JS in the MVP.

 

[BlueYoss]

It is entirely possible that no Carlton player voted for him

 

[Ricketts]

Found him!
http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=472989

 

[madcat001]

There are lots of people claiming he wouldn't be as good in a more regular side, however, Selwoods biggest attributes are his courage, hardness and endeavour to win the footy, which ultimately wouldn't be influenced by the players he is surrounded by. This kind of argument is more suited to someone like Prismall, who is no doubt a quality player, relies much more heavily on the likes of Bartel, Selwood, Ling, Corey and Ablett who mostly dish out handballs to the runners like Prismall.

You can only base your opinions on what he has acheived in his two years, which undoubtedly suggests he has the potential to be in the top five players of the comp at some stage in the future. Don't forget the way he broke the game open against Fremantle in the last quarter on Anzac day, the way he stood up against the Kangaroos in 2007 round 4, and the way he lifted when Ablett was sidelined in the later stages of this year. The kid is ticking all the boxes, and deserves all the hype and credit he is getting, you don't see young talent flourish like this every year. Enjoy it.


NB: - Don't say that this award means Selwood is the 6th best in the comp, because it doesn't. He was rated the 6th out of the 48 who were nominated. Personally I'd have him around 20-30 in the competition based on 2008.

 

[And_ROOS]

has he ever been tagged?

Yes he has, but it doesnt matter. He goes in and gets the hard ball. Not easy for taggers to stop that as opposed to tagging someone who seagulls off the packs.

Top 6? Nah, but overrated? Definitely not. The kid is a gun at the moment and easily top 25 in the league. Works hard and seldom wastes possession and puts his body into contests. Theres a huge upside and he is already very good. Injury aside he will become a Geelong legend.

 

[Par4]

Honestly, after Buddy, Gary, Coxy and Pav, I'd have hime next.

Really solid, outstanding player who would stand out even more if he didnt have Gary and Jimmy for company.

His pace is underrated, a physical inside out player. Love him.

 

[Bring-Back-Powell]

I wonder how good he'd look without the support of Bartel, Ablett, Corey and Ling.

 

[DBAH0]

Anyone that thinks he looks good just because he is in a good team needs to watch Geelong more! The kid has lifted the team by himself quite a few times now.

He was praised as Geelongs best player against the Kangaroos when they were struggling early last year. No easy ball that day he just went in and got it. He certainly showed all the other Cats how to get the ball that day in his 4 or 5th senior game! The coach said he was dissapointed that it took the youngest kid in the side to show how it was done!

He pretty much won the game against Freo in Subiaco for us this season, and over his last 12 weeks, I think he averaged around 30 possesions or so. I don't think there's anyone who dives in so hard for the footy at contested possesions, hence why he won the most free kicks this season (and would be an excellent roughie for the Brownlow IMHO).

Wonder if he'll get AA now, considering the players had him 6th best in the league also.

Only seen him in about 50% of people's predicitions on here.

 

[DBAH0]

I wonder how good he'd look without the support of Bartel, Ablett, Corey and Ling.

As the poster above you said, he'd probably stand out more.

E.g Think of Nathan Foley from last season, who stood out a lot as he was argubly Richmond's only decent midfielder last season. Now with Deledio and co. stepping up, you haven't heard much from him at all this season really.

 

[Exhale You]

a) becomes a good enough player for opposition coaches to warrant a tag consistently
b) learns how to break this tag
c) plays in a team that is not one of the most dominant in history

Jimmy Bartel isn't being tagged consistently this year.

Does that mean he's not a 'good enough player' to justify a tag? Or does it simply mean that teams can't tag everyone so have to pick their poison?

then he will always be questioned.

.........by people like you.

His peers seem to rate him pretty highly.

 

[Bollox]

Would be performing this well in any team i reckon...top or bottom. Seems to have the ticker and confidence of a 25yo strong body already, plays tight and gets his own ball...a coach's dream.

The way the MVP is done has caused his overrating on that list coz he's nowhere near the #6 in the comp of course. Everyone luvs a winner.

 

[krisholio14]

I saw him play a few weeks ago and the commentators mentioned it was the first time they saw selwood tagged (against sydney I think), he really struggled and had zero impact on the game even though it was another landslide win to the cats.

He is a gun junior, no doubt. But until he shows that he can break a tag than he is not just overrated but grossly overrated. Cats fans need to get their hands off it when discussing selwood.

The Swans also tagged him at Geelong last year and he had a ripper game that day.

 

[tazhawk]

The MVP is treated as a joke by the players.

Selwood got a lot of votes from his brothers team.

 

[JUBJUB]

I wonder how good he'd look without the support of Bartel, Ablett, Corey and Ling.

He didn't have the support of Ablett and Ling v Hawthorn in Rd17 and he was B.O.G

Next excuse please

 

[Pettas]

He didn't have the support of Ablett and Ling v Hawthorn in Rd17 and he was B.O.G

Next excuse please

But was it against quality opposition?

 

[Bobby Giovanni]

I'm glad that opposition teams, coaches and fans underestimate Selwood. Joel Corey as well. That frees them up to cut the opposition up.

So yes, I agree: they're rubbish. Don't tag them, they're not worth it.

 

[johnsmith05]

a few home thruths about geelong.

nathan ablett, mooney and lonergan...all rubbish....
they never EVER kicked goals wen the game was there to be won, lonergan kicked a few hauls of 4 a while bak and everyone was a hand ball over the top......soft goals....we used to dot hat in junior football to the people who didnt get a kick to make them feel better...

also nathan ablett....he never had 1 good game, he didnt kick goals wen the game was there to be one or take a big mark, neither did mooney, were is mooney wen the game is in the balance and need a big strong mark???? ablett kicked 3 in the prelim and how ever many in the grand final.....mmmmm funny thing was they were all at the end of the game wen they were up by 10 goals...

if nathans last name wasnt ablett he would of been laughed at by saying he wanted to play afl without playing tac....he never did anything at all.

 

[caitsith01]

Anyone that thinks he looks good just because he is in a good team needs to watch Geelong more! The kid has lifted the team by himself quite a few times now.

He was praised as Geelongs best player against the Kangaroos when they were struggling early last year. No easy ball that day he just went in and got it. He certainly showed all the other Cats how to get the ball that day in his 4 or 5th senior game! The coach said he was dissapointed that it took the youngest kid in the side to show how it was done!

I'm glad some opposition fans are smart enough to see this. The reason the GFC nominations were Ablett, Corey, Selwood is that the latter two dig really deep when its needed.

I just find it unbelievable how much drivel is posted in this thread. He's in his second season for god's sake, and he's near the top of the tables for disposals, inside 50s, etc etc. He got 37 touches in the Geelong v Adelaide game earlier in the year. He is without a doubt better than any of the midfielders at some clubs.

Personally I am quite happy for fans, and hopefully opposition clubs, to continue to underrate him massively. Pretty handy if Geelong have a hard tag on Ablett to have someone else who can step in and get 30 damaging touches right in the guts.