Recently retired Geelong star Joel Selwood has just made a surprising career move, joining NRL Club the Melbourne Storm in a new leadership role.
The four-time premiership player retired following Geelong's premiership victory over the Sydney Swans after 355 games. The midfielder was also awarded six All-Australian blazers and was captain of the club from 2012 to 2022 in a remarkable career.
Selwood will now join the Storm and help implement a winning culture at the club alongside young emerging players and more established players such as Christian Welch, Cameron Munster and Ryan Papenhuyzen.
The superstar Cat said he was eagerly anticipating this new stage of his life and looked forward to joining a respectful organisation such as the Storm.
“I'm really excited to be joining Storm. I've been watching them and been in envy of what the club has been able to achieve for a long time," he said.
“When the opportunity come up, I saw it as a great chance to get involved in something a bit different in an environment that is so well run," Selwood said.
Storm football manager Frank Ponissi was full of praise for this appointment and believed Selwood would be an invaluable addition to the club. Storm chief executive Justin Rodski and coach Craig Bellamy were very keen on acquiring the services of Selwood, while many other AFL clubs and Cricket Australia were also keen to work with him.
“Joel is an impressive person and has shown he has outstanding leadership qualities as Captain of the Cats over a long period of time," Ponissi said.
“We were particularly impressed with his humility and eagerness to learn, which was no surprise given what we knew about him and from the feedback we got from those we spoke to through the process, including Simon Lloyd (Geelong football manager) at the Cats."
The NRL club has in the past also turned to the AFL to improve player and club leadership, with former Collingwood premiership captain Nick Maxwell once working at the club in a similar role.
The Storm finished the NRL home and away season in fifth position but was knocked out of the finals race after losing its first final to Canberra Raiders.
Down at Geelong, the position of captain has yet to be filled, with Patrick Dangerfield, Tom Stewart and Mark Blicavs considered the favourites for the job.