Steven Motlop has fallen in love with football once more, according to skipper Joel Selwood.

After piecing together his most consistent season in 2015 and finishing runner-up in the Carji Greeves medal as a result, Motlop couldn’t meet that same output in 2016.

It was an indifferent 12 months for one of the Cats’ most damaging players, but Selwood says the 25-year-old is ready to find his way again.

“I think that he’s just matured and he’s understood now that footy is really important to him and that’s the way I see him at training,” Selwood told the Geelong Advertiser.

“It probably got to that stage where he wasn’t sure if [he loved footy]. You can just fall out of love with footy sometimes but I reckon he’s found his love back for it, which is important.

“And we’ve got to make sure we help him stay that way, because he’s a bloody good player.”

Motlop was still impactful last season, especially around goal. He finished second in Geelong’s goalkicking with 38 majors and averaged 19.4 disposals per game though Selwood believes we will see further improvement in the year ahead.

“We see him as being a 50-goal goalkicker down in the forward line, he can be super dangerous in the forward line,” Selwood said.

“But with a mix of playing through the midfield as well. His line-breaking run and speed is something we’ve got that other teams don’t necessarily have, so we think he can play a role there.”

The Cats will open their JLT Community Series pre-season campaign against Hawthorn in Tasmania on Friday.