Just days after the Cats’ agonising preliminary final loss to the Tigers, in a quiet café a stone’s throw from GMHBA Stadium, Harry Taylor and his skipper sat down to talk.
With 261 AFL games and 12 top-level seasons to his name, the ever-reliable Taylor wanted an honest opinion from one of his most-trusted advisors.
When it came to considering his football mortality, Taylor turned to Selwood.
“We caught up after the season and he just asked me for my honest opinion on whether he could go again,” Selwood says.
“It was only probably three days after the season and it wasn’t emotion at that time. It was more we were just honest. We went to a little café around the corner (from GMHBA Stadium) I’d never been to before – he took me there and shouted me.
“I just had to ask him if he was empty – if he still had anything left in the tank. He told me that he thought he did, and I thought that he did.”
Taylor’s 2019 exploits are a strong measure that the Cats stalwart has plenty to offer in 2020.
After his first season playing under 21 games in 2018, struggling with a plantar fascia complaint and dragging his body to eight games, Taylor rebounded in emphatic fashion to play 24 games at the top level this year.
Taylor spent 87.7 per cent of the games he played on the ground, the fourth highest percentage at the club.
With his captain’s confidence behind him, Taylor decided to go around again, going public with his decision on the morning of the Cats’ Carji Greeves medal night.
The bond between Taylor and Selwood has been forged from the successes of two premierships and over a decade of trust - it’s one that Selwood values more highly than much else.
“I wouldn’t be that captain that I am without Harry Taylor because he reads what I don’t, he controls what I don’t and he’s just my go to guy and my right-hand man for many years.”
“We have honest conversations quite often so he’s going to tell me when to finish up one day and I’m going to tell him.”
“He’s just one that I can rely on and trust and you don’t find that in many.”
When the Geelong captain talks about what Taylor brings to the Cats, the admiration he holds for his long-time teammate is quickly evident.
“I’d rather see a competitor and a warrior like him go out spending all his pennies here at the Geelong footy club because he’s been a great for a long time.”
“We can’t thank him enough for what he’s done but he’s not finished yet, he’s nowhere near finished.”
