Scott Selwood was made to earn his first AFL opportunity of the season, so there’s no surprise that he grabbed it with both hands after months adrift from the AFL side. 

Selwood lined up in the VFL for the Bendigo Bank Cats 11 times this season after an injury-interrupted start to the year, before finally getting his break against the Swans on Sunday afternoon.

VFL coach Shane O’Bree says the 29-year-old Cat was exemplary in his approach towards football at the state league level.

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“As much as everyone wants to play AFL football, Scott was one of those guys that knew early in the week where he was at and always came back with a great attitude,” he says.

“During the week he’d always get around the boys and help the coach during the week with individual areas.”

“He had a good two months at VFL level where every week he had a few little parts of his game that he’s been working on.

“He implemented them really well so it was good to see he got his opportunity. He’d been waiting for a while.

Selwood gathered 23 touches and kicked a goal against the Swans in a steady performance that spoke to his 168 games of top-level experience.

“He knew the situation with how the AFL team had been going and he couldn’t break in, but he was always ready to go and it showed in his game against Sydney on the weekend,” O’Bree says.

“He got plenty of the ball and looked comfortable when he got the ball, he looked composed with it and hit the scoreboard as well. He can play multiple positions for us as well and that’s what Scott did for us on the weekend.

“When Sydney was on top in that first quarter, Scott would have been one of the guys who was really composed out there and knew what to do in the heat of the battle.

“Scott’s got that experience under his belt and knows what to expect and I thought he played really well.

That experience and steady hand is something that stood out to O’Bree when the tough midfielder was playing VFL football.

“I couldn’t fault him gameday. He’s a real leader out on the ground for us,” O’Bree says.

“There’s things going on out in the middle of the ground, if you wanted to get a message out, particularly around the midfield area, you’d be able to get the runner out to Scott and say fix this up or do that he does his best there and tries to fix it up straight away.

“At VFL level he’s got a lot of young players around him, around the midfield and around stoppages. The way he sets the rest of the team up and he’s a selfless player where he does all the team things right.”

“He can still play his role and still impact on the game but actually out on the ground use his voice and set others up and be a calming influence on a lot. That’s what he does at VFL level really well with the young group around him.”