Captain Joel Selwood has called on Geelong’s star veterans to also improve in the wake of their straight-sets AFL finals exit.

Their six-point loss to North Melbourne in Friday night’s enthralling semi-final meant the Cats became the first top-four team since West Coast in 2007 to bow out of the finals series without a win.

Selwood said he was extremely proud of the team for their late fightback, but added it was too little, too late in the game.

He pointed out the future looked promising, with Geelong fielding 10 players under 23 years of age in Friday night’s team.

Selwood, high among their best in the loss, added improvement had to come from either end of their playing list.

Since winning the 2011 premiership, the Cats had finished seventh and third before Friday night’s disappointment.

“We have the choice now, whether we go forward and really develop those (younger) guys,” Selwood said.

“But we need to get better from the top, too.

“Andrew Mackie, Corey Enright, Steve Johnson, James Kelly need to make that decision too.

“You need to push on and get better.”

Several of the more experienced Cats players either had quiet starts or made uncharacteristic blunders as North took the early initiative.

But those veterans were also at the fore as Geelong roared back from 32 points down in the last term to nearly tie the scores.

When asked about the starts of those veterans, Selwood said “You’re saying that, I’m not saying that.”

He also would not comment on what led to a nasty-looking cut above his right eye in the second term.

A running tussle between Selwood and Brent Harvey shortly before the Cats captain was forced from the field is certain to attract match review panel attention.

While bitterly disappointed with the result, Selwood was full of praise for Geelong’s persistence.

“One thing you can’t write off is the Geelong spirit and we showed that – we just showed it a little bit too late,” he said.

“I’m really proud of the boys.

“We got ourselves in a position this year to get the double chance and at the end of the day, it’s a missed opportunity.

“We could have easily rolled over in that last quarter … (they) played their hearts out”.

He was particularly pleased for key forward Tom Hawkins, who rebounded from a quiet qualifying final against Hawthorn to kick five goals, including three in the last quarter.

“Awesome, wasn’t he – he just never gave up,” he said.

“That’s what we expect of his leaders.

“You can give him a hard time all last week and he was always going to come out and do what he did.

“He’s an outstanding person and I can’t speak highly enough of him.”