Joel Selwood has been a stalwart for Geelong through its recent multi-flag era and also through its latest iteration under Chris Scott, where if it doesn't win another flag under him the list will have been thought to underperform. Selwood himself has fought injury the last year or two, and also has had to cope with playing in an unfamiliar outside role drifting from wing to half back to sweep up the crumbs. His best footy is undoubtedly behind him, but there is one last good season in him if he can get his body right. Most fantasy coaches aren't that hopeful.
Joel Selwood has been a stalwart for Geelong through its recent multi-flag era and also through its latest iteration under Chris Scott, where if it doesn't win another flag under him the list will have been thought to underperform. Selwood himself has fought injury the last year or two, and also has had to cope with playing in an unfamiliar outside role drifting from wing to half back to sweep up the crumbs. His best footy is undoubtedly behind him, but there is one last good season in him if he can get his body right. Most fantasy coaches aren't that hopeful.
Joel Selwood had an interesting 2019, asked to play on the outside for the first time in a long and storied career. Like Nathan Jones and Brad Ebert, his new role was to start on a flank or wing and sweep through the corridor to mop up opposition attacks or feed the runners to set up the next foray forward. As with Jones, Selwood's numbers dipped in this new role as his skill set was not quite in sync with this new position. A shift back to the middle towards the end of the year suited him better, and he has started at the coalface in 2020, much to the benefit of his fantasy owners.
Sell stock in Selwood
For the first time in over a decade, Joel Selwood was released of the main midfield responsibilities at the Cats. While thrown into the guts when required, the bulk of his campaign was spent on the wing, drifting back to mop up in defence as a seventh man. This resulted in Joel's lowest ever fantasy output with a significant drop in disposals and centre bounce involvements.
This role of starting on a wing and then sweeping behind the ball was created in the wake of the 6-6-6 rule introduced last season, and it has spread across the league. Given Selwood's average is now below the midfielder baseline, it's hard to draft him unless you think he's going to return to the guts to replace Tim Kelly. He is a watchlist candidate for that possibility alone.
Joel Selwood has taken a path that a number of players across the AFL have been asked to follow in reaction to the new 6-6-6 rules restricting positioning at centre bounces: the wing who drifts back to help out in defence. This is different to the plus-one in previous years who started in the hole at half back, but like that role the player who fills it can sometimes not be as statistically productive as someone in a set position would do. Selwood's score last week suggests that his floor is lower than his owners would like to admit, so today is a test to see where his new average lies.
Jelwood is a giant
A career average over 100 places Joel Selwood truly in the upper echelon of players in terms of scoring ability and consistency. The addition of Gary Ablett jnr freed Selwood up to avoid the tag on some occasions, correlating to an personal improvement in possessions, marks and tackles, as he accumulated more total touches and tackles than any other Cat. Fantasy coaches can expect much of the same from the Cats’ fearless leader in 2019. Forget about the fact that he now plays second or even third fiddle in the midfield he leads, and draft this warrior in the early rounds for a consistent and durable asset.
Jelwood hard as a Cat's head
Things were looking great for Joel Selwood last year by round five, off the back of 43 touches against the Saints to rack up a fourth consecutive fantasy ton. Then he copped a Levi Greenwood tag that was one of three games where he was sat upon hard enough to stop him going past 60 fantasy points. Four separate in-game injuries ruined his continuity, and he missed fantasy finals with ankle syndesmosis to finish with his worst average since 2008. You have to wonder whether Chris Scott is going to overrule Selwood's deisre to push on through injury at some point to protect the player from post-career health problems, such is his disregard for his own safety - particularly when it comes to his head. Opposition analysts seem to have concluded that Patrick Dangerfield is too good to tag, but Jelwood has proven susceptible so his bounceback potential should be offset by that possible downside.
Selwood has the wood
Joel Selwood is an in-and-under specialist and is part of a midfield which may go down as the greatest of all time. His disposal efficiency is 81.59% and his clean disposal has meant higher scores in Supercoach than Dream Team.
He missed one game in 2008 but has played all games since, which is a testament to his conditioning and endurance. Selwood was priced at $453,400 in DT at the start of the season and has fallen to as low $379,700, but is now at $410,000 and may hover around that mark for the rest of the season.
He has played well in all matches bar one against Port Adelaide, where he traditionally got tagged by Kane Cornes. He has converted six of 12 tons in DT and seven on 12 in SC of the games he has played so far.
His scoring has been marginally down in 2010 compared with 2009, and this has been reflected in his performances where he hasn't singlehandedly dominated a game. Though there may be better options than Selwood at this point, he would be a welcome addition to any fantasy midfield.
