THE YEAR is 2022. Jade Gresham is 25 years old and at the top of his game, causing havoc up forward and kicking bags of goals every week.
Coming up against Geelong, he walks into the forward 50 at the start of the match to be confronted by … a 34-year-old Joel Selwood?
As strange as it sounds, this could become a reality, with Cats coach Chris Scott suggesting the now 30-year-old premier midfielder and club captain may make a shift to the backline at the tail end of his career.
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Selwood spent a considerably higher proportion of his game against Brisbane in defence than he has for most of his career, even taking four kick-ins, which is a rarity.
"We've been talking about it for a few weeks. Forced our hand a little bit because we lost Tom Stewart (to an ankle injury) so early, but I'll be honest and say there's a little bit of – it's not an experiment, I wouldn't go that far – but there's a little bit of a pointer to what we might think about with Joel towards the end of his career," Scott told Fox Footy's AFL 360.
"He's just so competitive and good in the contest. We like the way he uses the ball, as well. He's got the attributes to play there, we know he can play virtually all the forward spots as well, which gives us a little bit more flexibility.
"Really, for a long time there, we were so vulnerable if we moved him out of the midfield. Now I think it's a reflection of the competition we've got in the depth of our midfield."
Since 2016, the Cats have added Gary Ablett, Tim Kelly, Sam Menegola and Scott Selwood to their midfield, while young forwards Brandon Parfitt, James Parsons, Quinton Narkle and Nakia Cockatoo have also spent time in the middle.
Cam Guthrie and Mitch Duncan split their time between half-back and the midfield.
Joel Selwood’s potential move to defence was inspired by an unlikely source.
"It might seem quite silly, but we played him behind the ball in the (2017) International Rules series for a bit (which Scott coached), and he did it a lot better than I expected him to," Scott said.
"He and I have talked about it, almost jokingly at first, the more we talked about it, the more [it made sense].
"I have to say, it is more [defence assistant coach Matthew Scarlett's] influence than mine. But I tell you what, it's not the bravest call from an assistant coach to say, 'I want Joel Selwood in my area’," he finished with a laugh.
