Newsflash: Joel Selwood is not perfect. Just very close.

As far as youthful members of the AFL's elite, there are few who compare with Geelong's favourite son, Joel Selwood. Since his debut during that magical 2007 season, he's gone from the anointed "potential captain" to "talisman" to now a probable second to Cameron Ling in the Sleepy Hollow leadership. A popular early-season pick for the Brownlow Medal, his game has grown at nearly the same rate as his physique. From his first matches, he was one of the AFL's better midfielders and in 2008 he represented Victoria in the All-Star State of Origin match, high honours for a kid of 20.

Now his performance takes on more importance in a Cat midfield shorn of their 2007 pace and devoid of any Abletts. He and Jimmy Bartel are the key to the Geelong midfield, the jewels in their hooped crown. But there's a weakness becoming ever more apparent in his armour: Joel Selwood has the yips.

Not in a Josh Kennedy, Cam Mooney or even Rod "Tilt" Carter kind of way - Joel Selwood just can't seem to get the ball on target when shooting for goal. Remove the big white sticks and he's fine, posesssing the pinpoint delivery required for an elite player. But get him inside the forward fifty and his toughness suddenly doesn't cover scoring shots - he's booted 3.7 this year. And unfortunately for him, several of those behinds have been (relatively) easy misses. Never a goalscorer of note - at least, not since before his Bendigo Pioneer days - he has a total of 36 goals over the 101 games of his wonderful career.

This, in itself, isn't the worst thing in the world - there are very few perfect players, or even players without a weakness. Carey's flaws were his dicky shoulders and occasional dose of white-line fever, Ablett Sr was held back by his debatable off-field work ethic and a strange manner of thinking. Brendan Fevola's weakness is obviously the big squishy thing between his ears, Joel Selwood's fatal (only?) flaw is his scoring accuracy. Unlike running mate Bartel, Selwood has a 30-goal-a-season gap in his arsenal. (Ed: You don't know how much it hurts Matt to write this).

Why harp on such a star? Because with their newfound flair for the close result, Joel Selwood's inaccuracy could end up hurting the Cats. Several times throughout the season he's had the chance to convert on the run from 35-40 metres away and failed. Often those shots have been under only mild pressure.

It could be he doesn't slow his momentum enough before setting himself for the kick or even just that he freezes. I'm sure there are myriad other reasons he could be inaccurate that someone more technically-minded could answer, but the Cats' young leader needs to get this right or else his leadership in inaccuracy could cost Geelong a win or two at crucial times.

Teams look to their leaders for guidance. While no-one ever misses a goal on purpose, a good leader has the ability to inspire their teammates through their play, tacitly demanding accountability. While Selwood's play all over the park does this, his shooting for goal does not. The Cats have played six of their eight matches against teams currently in the eight and won by one, two, three, eleven, nineteen and twenty-one points. Each match swung in the balance for some time. One day, probably soon, Joel Selwood - possibly the third or fourth-best midfielder in the league - will step up to shoot for goal with the Cats needing him to score.

When that day comes, Chris Scott hopes he's over his yips.

Image courtesy: en.wikipedia.org

Geelong, like Manchester United, are the "Crap Invincibles"

Geelong's unbeaten start to the AFL season has surprised many. Even so, their gritty three-point victory on Friday night perhaps stamped them again as a viable Premiership threat. Pre-season the Cats were daubed old, one-paced and vulnerable not for any lack of skill - they still boast players such as Enright, Corey, Chapman, Scarlett and golden child Joel Selwood - but because they'd lost their best player and their fabled "window" was closing. Rumours of their demise have been greatly overstated. While many expected the Cats to fall from contention this season, they've done quite the opposite.

This is hardly a different viewpoint to some reports emanating from Victoria. The Cats still bear (most of) the fruit of a decade's intelligent drafting and their core, though nearer retirement than debut, may eke out another triumph or two. The Premiership may be a bridge too far, but it is now firmly on the Cats' radar.

This isn't the first time such successful renewal on the fly has happened at the Cattery. In 1995, nearly broken from three Grand Final defeats, Malcolm Blight walked away from coaching Geelong to be replaced by his assistant Gary Ayres. The former Hawthorn defender wanted to toughen a notoriously freewheeling and attack-minded club and got immediate results. The Cats hardened up and were rewarded with another Grand Final appearance that year only to be demolished by an irresistible Carlton unit. They made the finals again in 1997 - with a team many thought much improved over their mid-90s teams - and were eliminated after losing in Adelaide amidst the drama of Leigh Colbert's phantom mark.

These memories have been re-awakened this year. Rookie coach Chris Scott - in his playing days an uncompromising defender like Ayres - has revitalised some aspects of the playing group, most obviously David Wojcinski. He has empowered others, like Taylor Hunt and Daniel Menzel. But more than that, he and the club don't subscribe to 2010 tactics that then-coach Mark Thompson admitted were flawed. The Cats have begun to grind out results as if they've become so accustomed to winning that they have simply just continued this learned behaviour, albeit in a different style.

A parallel can be drawn from the land of tea, Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Who and Pippa Middleton. Manchester United were crowned English Premier Leauge Champions on Saturday, capturing their fourth title in five years. This triumph has been touted rightly as one of Sir Alex Ferguson's greatest achievements: his team - missing Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and (mostly) Wayne Rooney's form - clung onto top position relying on an ageing squad sprinkled with youth.

In 2010, United lost the title to Chelseas and pundits predicted a fall-off. The squad - with only one new player really contributing - went unbeaten into February, the equivalent of the AFL's Round 16. The ESPN Soccernet podcast dubbed Ferguson's mob "The Crap Invincibles" for their ability to avoid defeat yet look totally uninspiring doing it.

Although the AFL's answer to Sir Alex is working in his lab preparing to mastermind an orange outfit into season 2012, it sounds familiar, doesn't it? While the Cats have been impressive so far, the high-scoring juggernaut of 2007 is gone. Like United, Geelong has the enviable gift of being able to win despite their skills not being at their peak. They are the AFL's "Crap Invincibles". This isn't an insult - quite the opposite - their ability to get results such as Friday night's win (against a Magpie outfit they at times looked unable to cope with) is testament to their determination and smarts. They are achieving not because of what they can do physically, but because of strength of character.

Neither club's time-derived ability to win has died. In fact, though their squads are unquestionably weaker than during their pomp of 2007-08, their collective nous has perhaps increased. Injury time has become synonymous with a United rally and goal, while the Cats have made a (slightly annoying but understandable) habit of being able to overpower their opposition with a quarter and a half of devastating play. The popular adage states that success breeds success. It couldn't be more true than in Geelong or Manchester United.

Chris Scott image courtesy: theage.com.au

Sir Alex Ferguson image courtesy: simply-reds.blogspot.com

"Bomber" Thompson's strange rhetoric

Mark Thompson is unrepentant as to the manner in which he left Geelong in October. No surprises there. In fact, in today's Age he actually came off sounding as if he was the one who was wronged in the messy marriage-breakup that was his exit from the Cattery.

His quotes in that newspaper are telling as words like "I can look myself in the mirror and just say I'm happy with everything that I've done" and "I gave anything I could possibly give. I walked away from a very lucrative contract" give an insight into his mindset: mildly hurt and surprised by the furore his decision has generated. But what he fails to realise is that by defending himself in this manner, he can only further infuriate the Cats supporters who saw his last season derailed by the constant circus surrounding Gary Ablett's possible move to the Gold Coast. Ablett eventually walked and so did Thompson. It's probable the Geelong faithful will wish the Brownlow Medallist more good favour than their former coach. It's also likely that Li'l Gary's departure will be seen as a much lesser act of disloyalty.

Because make no bones about it, Thompson tried to curry favour with both board and public in order to rid himself of his obligation to Geelong and re-join his former club Essendon. By claiming burn out, he didn't lie but withheld portions of the truth so as to reflect more sympathetically. He's re-stated his lack of desire to continue as a senior coach and thus feels justified, but by claiming ill-health - which is what burn-out equates to - only to re-surface a mere month later at another club makes him look economical with the truth.

There's little doubt that "Bomber" was burnt out. Indeed, in his interview yesterday he looked very well, rested and much healthier than he did during almost all of his stint at Kardinia Park. This can only back up his side of the story but from the outside it looks very much as if Thompson's head was turned toward Bomberland by all that he sought: less stress, re-uniting with a former club and a new challenge. When he realised the grass was greener back in Melbourne, it was down to him to engineer an excuse for leaving.

It's often said that some coaches are re-building masters and others don't have the stomach for that aspect of the job. Thompson had been the coach at Geelong for a decade and the reconstruction of that Cats side from afterthought to Premiers took the best part of those ten years by which time he was facing another remodelling. The fact that many of his best players are approaching retirement meant a bevy of personnel decisions and probable rebuilding from scratch. To be blunt, he just wasn't up for it.

Perhaps ten years of intense scrutiny in the fishbowl of Corio Bay took it's toll. Most tellingly of all, Thompson yesterday said "Being a senior coach, you just get criticised very heavily a lot of the times in your life and you almost become immune to it and that’s where I’m at" before continuing to say "I don’t have a problem with Geelong at all. If they have (with me) it's their problem. I gave anything I could possibly give. I walked away from a very lucrative contract ...".

Therein lies the problem: Thompson feels no remorse because he's been pilloried so heavily over the years that his response is one of a learned behaviour: go with his instincts and stick to any decision he makes. The criticism has given him such a thick skin that even he struggles to see through it. Thompson is happy with everything that he's done only because he's been desensitised by the scrutiny he's endured, even to the point of refusing to examine his decision-making process.

Were he to look at his departure objectively then perhaps he would think he owed Geelong hierarchy the complete truth. Of course that's unlikely.

Also irksome is his statement about "giving anything possible". Actually, it's complete rubbish. By resigning, Thompson broke his contract and as such forfeited any monies due to him. This doesn't constitute not giving up anything, only not receiving money for work which he did not complete. Giving implies he bought his way out of his contract, something which patently did not occur.

It was perhaps the most poorly kept secret in AFL football that "Bomber" would eventually take the senior assistant role at Essendon. New coach James Hird wanted him and he wanted to come. However he didn't escape the Cattery with his dignity intact. By telling half-truths to his comrades fearing the whole story would make him look bad, he has just made himself look worse. It's too bad that this ill-judgement means he will not just be remembered for two premierships and the fantastic play the Cats have delivered over the past decade. He will now, like Norm Smith, always be remembered for the way he left.