GEELONG great Joel Selwood has landed his first role since retiring, joining NRL club Melbourne Storm.
Selwood, 34, has joined the Storm as their leadership coach, less than two months after retiring following a glittering AFL career that ended with a fourth premiership.
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The six-time All-Australian will officially start with the Storm in January.
"I'm really excited to be joining Storm. I've been watching them and been in envy of what the club has been able to achieve for a long time," Selwood said in a Storm media release.
"When the opportunity come up, I saw it as a great chance to get involved in something a bit different in an environment that is so well run.
"I was impressed with the presentation Frank (Ponissi, Storm general manager of football) and Craig (Bellamy, coach) made and have already been welcomed at the club when I visited AAMI Park earlier this week. I can't wait to meet the rest of the playing group and getting into the season."
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Selwood called time on his career after the Cats' Grand Final victory in September, an outing which marked his 355th AFL game.
He follows in the footsteps of former Collingwood captain Nick Maxwell, who filled the role with the Storm for six years from 2015.
"Joel is an impressive person and has shown he has outstanding leadership qualities as captain of the Cats over a long period of time," Ponissi said.
"We were particularly impressed with his humility and eagerness to learn, which was no surprise given what we knew about him and from the feedback we got from those we spoke to through the process, including Simon Lloyd at the Cats.
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"We knew our two clubs had a lot of similarities, not just in sustained success but the values we each hold, and Joel has been a constant driver of those values for a long time.
"His leadership qualities and values off the field are just as impressive and have been very well documented over the years which was also very important to us in speaking to Joel about this role."
