GEELONG might have spent most of last year overrunning and overpowering its opposition, but Brisbane Lions utility Troy Selwood says he’d like to face the Cats every week of the pre-season.

The Lions will entertain Geelong at Carrara on Friday night and Selwood expects the reigning premier to bring out the best in himself and his teammates.

“Ideally you would probably want to play Geelong four weeks in a row through the pre-season,” Selwood says.

“Last year they were the best side going round and you want to go up against them to see where you are at.

“Hopefully they bring as strong a side as they can up here – I think it’s exciting and I’m looking forward to it.’

Friday’s clash will pit Selwood against younger brother Joel, winner of last year’s Rising Start award.

With the youngest of the clan, 17-year-old Scott, joining Troy’s twin Adam at West Coast via last year’s draft, the Selwoods are poised to become only 13th set of four brothers to turn out at AFL/VFL level.

The family connection is already reaping some quirky dividends, with Troy, Adam and Scott benefiting from a new boot endorsement deal signed by Joel.

”I think they were looking for someone young to promote the boots and that’s how Joel ended up getting involved,” Selwood said.

”It’s actually worked out pretty well for all four of us – I managed to get some free boots and I’ve just heard the two boys from Perth are on the bandwagon too.

”So, it’s become a bit of a family thing.”

Given Geelong’s flock of quality midfielders, Selwood is likely to be presented with a testing assignment should he get his customary run-with role this week.

The 23-year-old has endured some hit-and-miss pre-seasons in his five years at the Gabba, with back injuries severely restricting him over the summers of 2004 and 2007.

However, his current preparation has been uninterrupted, giving him every opportunity to chalk up his 50th career game early in the season.

“My pre-season testing in the 3km time trial and the beep test was pretty close to a personal best and, at 23, my body should really be at its peak,” he said.

“Going into the season with a good fitness base is obviously pretty important to me.

“I’ll never forget the first time I played against Ben Cousins a couple of years ago.

“I was only young, but I noticed that every time you would have thought he’d want to have breather, he actually ran more – the tougher it got the harder he worked.

“It taught me a lot about the great players and I realised how important it is to do whatever you can to get that extra five or 10 per cent out of yourself.”