Melbourne Storm today announced the appointment of the Geelong Cats four-time Premiership winning captain, Joel Selwood, as the Club’s new Leadership Coach.
The longest-serving captain in VFL/AFL history will start in his new role with Storm in January but has already immersed himself into the Storm program at AAMI Park.
Selwood, who retired from playing after September’s grand final win against Sydney, said he was excited to be joining the club he has admired for a long time.
“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,” Selwood 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.
“I was impressed with the presentation Frank and Craig made and have already been welcomed at the club when I visited AAMI Park earlier this week. I can’t wait to meet the rest of the playing group and getting into the season.” Selwood said.
Storm General Manager Football, Frank Ponissi, said Selwood has already impressed with his interest to learn more about the Club.
“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 at the Cats.
“We knew our two clubs had a lot of similarities, not just in sustained success but the values we each hold, and Joel has been a constant driver of those values for a long time.
“His leadership qualities and values off the field are just as impressive and have been very well documented over the years which was also very important to us in speaking to Joel about this role.” Ponissi said.
Ponissi said Selwood’s role will involve mentoring Storm’s current leaders and emerging leaders, while also supporting the Club’s next Captain/s who are yet to be appointed.
Having played 355 AFL games and being names All-Australian six times, Selwood is not the first AFL Captain to take on the leadership role with Storm, with former Collingwood captain, Nick Maxwell, filling the role successfully for six years from 2015.
The leadership position become vacant following the announcement by Storm Assistant Coach, Stephen Kearney, that he would be moving back to Queensland to be closer to his family.
“Mooks has made an enormous contribution to our club over a very long period of time. He leaves very big shoes to fill, particularly in mentoring and teaching our leaders, but we know Joel will be the perfect fit for us in the future.” Ponissi said.
