{"id":533191,"date":"2026-03-11T11:46:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T11:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/533191\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T11:46:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T11:46:12","slug":"michael-sellwood-wa-raised-western-bulldogs-debutant-invites-huge-family-contingent-to-first-game-in-brisbane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/533191\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Sellwood: WA-raised Western Bulldogs debutant invites huge family contingent to first game in Brisbane"},"content":{"rendered":"

AFL<\/a> clubs are required to cover the flights and accommodation of just two family members when a debutant plays their first game interstate.<\/p>\n

But for Perth<\/a>-raised Western Bulldogs defender Michael Sellwood, that figure was nowhere near enough to accommodate his two parents and nine siblings who had waited his entire life to witness his taste of AFL football.<\/p>\n

Sellwood, 22, joined the Bulldogs with pick no.5 in last year\u2019s Mid-Season Rookie Draft, and debuted on Saturday night in a thrilling win over reigning premiers Brisbane.<\/p>\n

With most of his family forced to open their own wallets to see him in action, all but Sellwood\u2019s three youngest siblings made the four and a half hour flight to watch him play at The Gabba.<\/p>\n

However, those who missed out \u2014 Xavier, Lewis and Rose \u2014 did share a moment with their brother in the rooms after the game on FaceTime.<\/p>\n

\"MichaelCamera IconMichael Sellwood supported by his large family at his first AFL game in Brisbane on Saturday night. Credit: Michael Sellwood\/Instagram<\/p>\n

Speaking to afl.com.au<\/a> on Monday after his first win in Bulldogs colours, the mature-aged rookie said he was grateful to have his family\u2019s support on the special day.<\/p>\n

\u201cPost-game was unbelievable. I was able to sort of get around everyone and see them all afterwards. Dad got really emotional, was tearing up after the game and he never gets emotional; that was really cool to see,\u201d Sellwood said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll my brothers were there and they never really tell me how proud they are of me, but they all said how proud they are, which makes me get emotional thinking about it now.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a really good experience and you see how much people ride the journey along with you and those that have supported you throughout the journey, how it means so much to them as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

With enough siblings to fill half a classroom, Sellwood underwent home-schooling alongside his brothers and sisters on the family\u2019s six-acre property in Baldivis, before attending Aquinas College in Year 8.<\/p>\n

However, he doesn\u2019t believe he was disconnected from other kids growing up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never felt like I was isolated or sheltered in that sense,\u201d Sellwood said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had friends that were home-schooled and then friends from footy or through soccer or various stuff like that. I don\u2019t think I turned out too weird, but I know it\u2019s a common stereotype because it\u2019s different. I think we all turned out pretty well.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of several Aquinas products his age to play AFL, Sellwood lives with good mate and former student Jesse Motlop in Melbourne.<\/p>\n

Sydney\u2019s Corey Warner, brother of Chad, was also in Sellwood\u2019s year, with Warner\u2019s teammate Logan McDonald the year above.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember the first day that I was at Aquinas there was a big food fight at lunchtime and I was sort of getting involved, and I just remember thinking: how good is this? It was harmless but just so much fun. I was always a loud and boisterous sort of person, so I didn\u2019t struggle to sort of fit in and make friends,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen when footy came around it was a lot easier too. My fondest memories of footy were at Aquinas, especially year 11 and 12 for the first 18, where you\u2019re just playing with your best mates. That was easily my favourite time playing footy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ScottCamera IconScott Tuia, Michael Sellwood, Taj Wyburd, and Corey regenza-Cashell celebrate Peel’s 2024 WAFL premiership. Credit: Michael Sellwood\/Instagram<\/p>\n

Forced to watch on as his mates got drafted before him, Sellwood caught the attention of AFL recruiters only after playing in Peel\u2019s 2024 WAFL premiership..<\/p>\n

With a professional footy career never guaranteed, the defender was on a teaching placement in Perth when he got selected in 2025\u2019s Mid-Season Rookie Draft.<\/p>\n

His chance of making it to the AFL had not gone unnoticed by his students, however, who were acutely aware of his big-time prospects.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore the end of the day, people were getting my signatures and I was just like, oh this is so funny,\u201d Sellwood recalled.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next day I wasn\u2019t there. It just sort of all happened really quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sellwood\u2019s debut featured a game-high seven tackles, along with five kicks, five handballs, and two marks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AFL clubs are required to cover the flights and accommodation of just two family members when a debutant…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":533192,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,588,85],"class_list":["post-533191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sport","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=533191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/533192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=533191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=533191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=533191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}