Joel Selwood opens up about autobiography

RETIRED Cats star and premiership captain Joel Selwood never planned to write down his life story, but the growth of his family warmed him to the idea.

Released this week, Selwood’s autobiography All In covers the highs and lows of his remarkable career on the field, including four flags with Geelong.

It also includes the bravery, disappointment and celebration of entering the IVF merry-go-round with his wife, Brit, which ultimately resulted in the birth of their son, Joey, 12 months ago.

Speaking on Tuesday this week in familiar territory – the Captains’ Room at GMHBA Stadium, where he announced his retirement from the AFL on September 28 last year a week after winning the grand final against Sydney – Selwood admitted “there was a lot to get into the book”.

“For starters, it wasn’t something I planned on doing, but after speaking to a number of different people, we came to the agreement that it maybe it wasn’t just for me,” he said.

“I’ve got a young family that didn’t know my football career and what all went into it, so it’s mainly for people around me.”

He said the IVF process was “long and hard” on himself and Brit.

“To be honest, footy came second, and the footy club were sensational with that.

“My wife and I had the journey, and we only speak on it in the book because it was such a big part of the journey, and we hope that it can help others too; give hope to others that are doing it hard.”

“If we were going to tell the whole [story in the] book, and by the heading, you can probably tell, we were all in. In saying that, we thought it was important to share.

“To be honest, it was good to reflect, for myself and Brit.

“It was so tough to write, I remember had help from Pete Ryan to write the book, and we probably wrote it three times. In the end, as you’ll see, we’ve got Brit’s help to make sure she’s got her say in the book, because it was so personal, and it tells the full story.”

Selwood said reflecting on his 16-year, 355-game career was a pleasant surprise in his retirement, as was thinking of all the people he had worked with.

“It actually felt really nice to write the book, so hopefully they’ll get to read it and interpret it in their way as a bit of a thankyou to them, too.”

He said he had no immediate plans for a sequel.

“The thing about the book, though, is that reached a little bit of everything – my younger years in football, even back to Bendigo, when I was growing up there – and then it’s touched on my life all the way through, so we’ll start at one.”

All In by Joel Selwood is out now through Hardie Grant.