Geelong captain Joel Selwood says mercurial forward Steven Motlop needs to take responsibility for getting himself put on the trade table.
Motlop, 25, looks set to stay at the Cats after the club was unable to attract significant interest in the well-paid livewire after he was floated as trade bait.
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The speedster is contracted until the end of next year, and must now return to a club that has looked to offload him after having issues with Motlop's perceived lack of professionalism, most notably when he reportedly turned up to pre-season training out of shape.
Selwood said  such a situation was unusual for his club, but that the Cats would need to work to ensure Motlop was welcomed back into the fold, while learning from the experience. "We haven't been in this situation too many times. We're going to learn from this first one if we do it well, or we learn that we can do it better, too," he said on Monday as he and his brothers Adam, Troy and Scott promoted their new children's book series: The Selwood Boys.
![Steven Motlop](/web/20161019092508im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/d/9/6/c/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gs4cp6.png/1476696333470.jpg)
"Steven probably knows that he put himself in that position where it could happen," Joel said.
"He came back to pre-season overweight and not ready for the start of the season.
"He's just got to take responsibility for that, and we've got to accept that and we've got to make him better."
Scott Selwood – also at the Cats – agreed with his brother's assessment. "Hopefully, with things like this the penny drops," Scott said.
"I know he's [Motlop] really committed to when he plays for the team and he's passionate about the footy club. It's just making sure it's really consistent."
Geelong are also pursuing contracted Richmond veteran Brett Deledio and out-of-contract Carlton defender Zach Tuohy, but Joel said he wasn't sure if either deal would eventuate. The Cats have been unwilling to part with midfielder Josh Caddy in a direct trade for Deledio, while fringe Cat Darcy Lang won't be involved in a trade for Tuohy despite it being mooted.
"I think there's a bit of a stalemate [with Deledio], looking from the outside. I haven't been across what's happened," he said. "It's going to be tough.
"Zach Tuohy is similar. I haven't got too much information for you."
The four brothers – all of whom played at the highest level – have teamed with acclaimed children's author Tony Wilson to create the books, which draw inspiration from the players' childhoods in Bendigo.
Adam – a 2006 West Coast premiership player – said he had enjoyed the experience in putting the books together.
"It's awesome. And to work on the one project together is great for us as a family because we've competed against each other for so long. Now, we're on one team." he said.
The brothers are hopeful that the books will encourage children to read more.
"For us it's really satisfying to know these books are out there," Adam said.
The first two books of the four-book series go on sale next Monday.
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