Geelong champion Joel Selwood announces his AFL retirement

The Geelong skipper announced on Wednesday that last Saturday's grand final triumph was his 355th and final game in a career that included four premierships, six All-Australian honours, the most finals played in AFL history and an AFL record for games as captain.

"I could go at 85 per cent next year and everyone would look after me, but I had to be all in,'' Selwood said, choking back tears.

"I just couldn't do that. I've had such a fun year this year amongst the playing group, amongst this football club."

The Sandhurst and Bendigo Pioneers product confirmed he made the decision to retire about six weeks ago, but purposefully kept the decision from team-mates and some family members.

He informed coach Chris Scott on the day before the Cats' round 23 clash with the West Coast Eagles.

"I played okay in the last game of the year against West Coast and then in the first final I went okay again,'' Selwood said.

"It was probably only my wife that said 'are we making the right decision?'

"At that stage there were only six people that knew, my brothers didn't even know at the stage.

"It (retirement) was an easy decision."

Scott, who played with and against some of the AFL's greatest players in his career with the Brisbane Lions and has since coached against some legends of the game, had no hesitation in ranking Selwood the best player he'd seen.

"The thing that continually struck me about Joel was his ability to care for others and prioritise others,'' Scott said.

"In my opinion, when you take everything into consideration he's the best player I've ever seen and the best representative of the Geelong Football Club you could possibly imagine.

"Even when the opportunity came for him to take a bit of the limelight, his priority was to make sure his decision didn't negatively impact anyone else.

"He spoke really well to the rest of the playing group about the need to keep it (his retirement) from everyone so they could prioritise the team performance going into a finals series.

"He did play pretty well in the last game against West Coast and in the first final, but he was committed to his decision.

"The great going out on top, I can't think of a better way for Joel to finish."

Selwood said he was lucky to spend 15 years at a club that provided such a stable environment.

"I've played under three presidents, I've had two coaches, two CEOs and three footy managers, it's just such a stable and unbelievable place to go to work led by those people that have been in charge over those times,'' he said.

"They put people underneath them that love going to work.

"You don't come to work at the Geelong Football Club to go to work for money, you come for the experience and I've loved every part of that."

Selwood told a select group of his long-serving team-mates of his decision on Tuesday before talking to the playing group as a whole prior to his press conference.

"I was looking around the rooms and I just saw people that I wanted to go to work with, and I'm wondering what I'm going to do next year, and I'm not going to be with people like that,'' Selwood said.

"They've all been a joy. Footy clubs are special and I'm in a really special one.

"I told them they are so lucky for being here and that I've enjoyed their company.

"I'll turn into the biggest fan."

He admitted he'll miss the day-to-day routine of going to the football club, but he was relieved to give his battered body a rest.

"I'll miss it when the boys go back to training. The fierce competitor in me won't leave me,'' Selwood said.

"It's the other side of it when I have to lie on the floor instead of sitting on the couch because I'm so sore.

"My wife has seen me crawl to the toilet instead of walking in the middle of the night.

"There have been scenarios that have played out at different times.

"I won't miss that side of it, but I will miss being around this place."

Selwood said the Cats were well-placed to challenge for another premiership next year.

"It does feel like the situation when I arrived," Selwood said.

"I won a premiership (in 2007) with a side that was ready to go back then and got their act together. They were able to work through and be so dominant.

"That's the hardest thing about right now ... that we're at this stage where we've been trying to get to for a little while.

"There's just so much good footy in front of these guys and they're doing it with ease and they're doing it together and they're loving playing with each other.

"The magic potion, everyone's looking for it, but it's not always easy to do what they're doing.

"They are basically unbeatable at the moment."

So what's next for someone that left home in Bendigo at the age of 18 and has dedicated his life to football since?

"I plan on probably buying some golf clubs,'' Selwood said with a chuckle.

"My wife is probably going to ask us to call into Geelong Travel after this and go somewhere on a holiday.

"(with footy) I was all-in, I had to make sure I finished the job here (first).

"I'll take some time now. My phone is turned off, but my manager's is on.

"He has the trade period and he tells me he's busy, but I'm sure he'll still take calls at different stages.

"I'm open to anything. I love working in team environments whether that be footy or another sport.

"I walked into this club when I was 18, I may be walking out of the locker room, I may be still working here, I may be working somewhere else."

If Selwood's next challenge is outside the four walls of the Geelong Football Club, Scott had no doubt the organisation that employed Selwood would be better for the experience.

"It struck me from the day I met him that he was always putting others in front of him and that extended to trying to influence others to get to the position where they could lead this footy club, in his mind, as well as he has,'' Scott said.

"That won't be possible. I think we feel much better prepared for the next few years at least because of the, in my time, 12 years that Joel has invested in us.

"We won the footy lottery for getting to spend a decade or so with Joel Selwood.

"Now it's the turn for others to see what a truly great person he is.

"You could forget about everything he's done on a football field and the rest would still be amazing.

"It's been a privilege for us to learn from the great man."

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