CHRIS Scott might expect the odd 'please explain' from his former Brisbane teammates.

In the lead-up to Joel Selwood's 250th game, on Sunday against Melbourne, we asked the Geelong coach how he rated his captain among the leaders he’d been involved with.

"I can't think of one that's been better," Scott told the AFL Record.

It was a significant statement given Scott spent a decade under the captaincy of Michael Voss, the Lions’ superstar, triple-premiership leader.

For the record, Scott also played under Brisbane skippers Roger Merrett (in 1994), Alastair Lynch (a co-captain with Voss from 1997-2000) and, in his final season in 2007, the five-way arrangement between Jonathan Brown, Simon Black, Nigel Lappin, Chris Johnson and Luke Power, before being an assistant coach at the Matthew Pavlich-led Fremantle and taking charge at Geelong when Cameron Ling was skipper.

We sought clarification from Scott that, from a leadership perspective, he ranked Selwood as at least the equal of Voss.

"Yeah," came Scott’s matter-of-fact response.

"I'm not saying Joel's better. But I'm certainly not saying Vossy's better either.

"It's difficult to compare. There are others for different reasons, and there are so many different layers to it besides the obvious, but Joel and Vossy are certainly the standouts."

Compliments don't come much bigger, given the esteem in which Scott and his old teammates hold Voss, who, like Selwood, was a brilliant, uncompromising midfielder and an inspiring, follow-me-style leader.

When we asked Selwood how he felt about such high praise, he admitted feeling "very uncomfortable".

We got a similar reaction when we highlighted he was just four games from eclipsing the legendary Reg Hickey as Geelong’s longest-serving captain.

"I was a mad Cats man growing up and I knew all the records inside out, so to be breaking some of them is pretty scary," Selwood, 29, said.

"But you don't even think about that stuff when your eyes are on the prize.

"Look, I just do what I do.

"People ask me what leadership's about and I think it's pretty simple: look after yourself first and make sure you perform, because everything else flows from that. If you set the example, you'll have the confidence to direct other guys." 

• THIS IS AN EXCERPT FROM A STORY THAT APPEARS IN THE ROUND ONE EDITION OF THE AFL RECORD, AVAILABLE AT ALL VENUES.