A FRESH Scott Selwood believes his late start to the 2016 season could be a blessing leading into this year's finals series.
The former Eagle played his first game for Geelong in its 66-point win over Essendon on Sunday and his first AFL match since last year's qualifying final, while playing for West Coast, against Hawthorn.
Off-season ankle surgery saw the restricted free agent arrive at the Cattery in the rehab group and with plenty of work ahead of him.
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The 26-year-old had tentatively hoped to be back playing by round six, but a bone stress reaction in his troublesome right ankle pushed that return date back further.
"I didn't think I'd get this far into the season. I was thinking I might have to miss the first five or six weeks, and then we had a setback with some bone stress and that set us back about 10 weeks in the end," Selwood said.
"It's brought us to this point here and they've been really patient and we haven't tried to rush it. My body feels great, my ankle feels great and I feel really confident in trying to do what I need to."
Selwood came into the team in good form, having racked up 26 disposals and laying nine tackles in the VFL the previous week, and with four games at the lower level under his belt.
"The other guys (Geelong's other recruits Patrick Dangerfield, Zac Smith and Lachie Henderson) have come in and earned the players' respect and I think I'm still going through that stage where I want to earn the respect of the guys," he said.
Selwood spent large portions of the game in a run-with role on star Bomber David Zaharakis, keeping the midfielder to 17 disposals, while finishing with 16 himself.
Coach Chris Scott said the Cats would continue to persist with Selwood so they can hopefully have him hitting his peak in the first week of September.
"It was just good to see him out there," Scott said.
"He was maybe a little bit rusty with the ball a few times, but when you've missed the amount of footy Scott has that is to be expected.
"Persevere is not the right word because we think he's earnt his spot in the team and he'll hold his place based on that performance, but some of the bits around the edges in his game I think we've got to be a little bit patient with."
Scott Selwood savours his first win as a Cat. Picture: AFL Photos
Scott said the Cats had not locked Selwood into just filling the tagging role, with Geelong confident he can also spend time in defence if needed.
"We can't be locked into thinking he has to do (just) that. We think he's got other roles in the team and he complements some of our other midfielders really well," Scott said.
"He's a very good runner, which gives him flexibility, and he was back a little bit tonight and he looked relatively comfortable. We've had, in the back of our minds, that he might be able to help us in the back half."
Selwood said playing alongside older brother Joel for the first time was a highlight of his career.
"I think he was a little bit more nervous than I was, I'm not too sure why. It was just awesome to run out with him and to see what sort of captain he's like out there on the field," Selwood said.
