AS an 18-year-old, Tom Hawkins was a pretty good judge of character.
The Geelong spearhead has a clear recollection of what crossed his mind when the Cats called Joel Selwood’s name with pick no.7 in the 2006 National Draft.
“I vividly remember where I was when Geelong called out his name, and I thought, ‘how good’s this?’ I’ve heard he’s an excellent player”, Hawkins said.
“But, from what I remember at the time, he was a great person”.
“I was really excited about playing a year or two with him; I didn’t think it would eventuate into 300 games together as teammates.”
As well as becoming the third combination behind Adelaide duo Andrew McLeod and Tyson Edwards (307) and Sydney greats Adam Goodes and Jude Bolton (301) to play 300 games together, Saturday night’s clash with the Western Bulldogs sees Selwood become the first Cat to play 350 VFL/AFL games.
“There’s probably not enough superlatives to describe Joel,” Hawkins said. “He’s been a wonderful teammate.
“Milestones are a really enjoyable part of football; that might be your first game, your 100th, 200th or your 35oth.
“They’re special times for the individual to be celebrated, and particularly this one, being the only Cat to have ever played 350 games.
“He holds a mountain of records, but it’s nice to reflect and appreciate Joel Selwood the player and the impact he’s had for the club.”
Click below to listen to the entire media conference with Tom Hawkins.
Twitter: @krockfootball
