The hardness. Selwood has played 296 games and is due to join Corey Enright, Ian Nankervis, Jimmy Bartel and Sam Newman as just the fifth player in the club's history to play 300 games with the Cats - on the same round premiership teammate Gary Ablett is set to play his 350th. Brownlow Medals. Selwood was drafted by the Geelong Football Club with their first selection, and was the seventh overall draft pick in the 2006 AFL Draft.
The competitiveness. The Bulldogs have generally played their home games at the venue at either the start or end of the season, so there is a chance games might be played there from August onwards.The Cats joined a number of clubs in providing their members with options to consider given there are no crowds allowed, with the club offering to add value through signed jumpers, social club events and merchandise vouchers, as well as putting price freezes in place for 2021."We thought we were picking the best team for round one and it is clear we had a lot of players who didn't quite have the preparation we would have liked them to have had," Scott said.Peter Ryan is a sports reporter with The Age covering AFL, horse racing and other sports.Geelong plan to celebrate champion skipper Joel Selwood's feat of reaching 300 games when crowds return and will honour his milestone as best they can when it arrives early in the restarted 2020 season.Clubs also believe the AFL is open minded about potentially playing games that don't involve Geelong at the venue depending on how the season evolves.Cats coach Chris Scott said Selwood was among a number of players whom had benefited from the shutdown as he had an interrupted pre-season due to hamstring tendinitis, which hampered him during 2019 and required surgery when he returned from his off-season break.With crowds unable to attend matches for the foreseeable future, the Cats see no reason why home games against Hawthorn and Collingwood, which have traditionally been played at the MCG due to the need to maximise attendances, could not occur at their home ground.However, there is a chance the AFL could restart the season with a traditional blockbuster clash between the Cats and the Hawks in Melbourne - which remain fierce rivals - as they plan to resume the season with high profile matches, with Richmond playing Collingwood on Thursday night and the Showdown between Adelaide and Port Adelaide scheduled on a Friday night for the first time.If the borders in South Australia and Western Australia remain shut for a lengthy period of time, clubs from those states might attempt to have games against Melbourne teams played at a more neutral venue in Victoria rather than the MCG or Marvel Stadium.He said Mitch Duncan and Sam Menegola had also benefitted from the shutdown while Patrick Dangerfield - who plays his 250th game in round two - is also better for the rest than he may have been otherwise.Selwood has played 296 games and is due to join Corey Enright, Ian Nankervis, Jimmy Bartel and Sam Newman as just the fifth player in the club's history to play 300 games with the Cats - on the same round premiership teammate Gary Ablett is set to play his 350th.The Cats are not overly fussed where the milestone matches are scheduled given there are no crowds but they are keen to play all their home games at GMHBA Stadium this year.