Joel Selwood has praised the work ethic and skill of the latest group of Geelong players. Speaking after a tough preseason session, Selwood said he has been impressed by the new batch of Cats.

“I won’t individualise but they are coming along in leaps and bounds,” the 2009 All Australian said.

“We had a really good draft and they are all training well. The rookies have also come in and been good.”

Despite being just 21 years of age and with only three seasons under his belt, Selwood has been one of the senior statesmen during the pre season, with older player workloads being managed carefully to guard against burnout after three long campaigns.

“With the older guys away from training for parts of the pre season, I have had to take more responsibility with the young guys starting out.”

The Cats have added nine players through the draft since the end of the 2009 campaign. Daniel Menzel, Micth Duncan, Allen Christensen, Josh Cowan and Nathan Vardy were selected in the national draft and James Podsiadly, Jack Weston, Jesse Stringer and Ben Johnson were picked up in the rookie draft.