Geelong midfielder Scott Selwood doesn’t see any reason why he should change his physical approach to tagging roles.

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson felt star Hawk Sam Mitchell should be given more protection by umpires from opposition taggers after Selwood applied a hard tag during the Cats’ thrilling two-point qualifying final win.

Selwood maintained he stayed within the rules during his physical duel with Mitchell and will continue to do so.

“I think I play in a fair way,” Selwood said.

“The umpires said at the start of the game that they were watching the contests the whole time.

“Sam Mitchell’s such a great player and I’ve got so much respect for him … it was a bit of a tactic in trying to beat him because he’s so smart.

“You know he’s going to get a lot of the footy and you’ve just got to make it as hard as you can for him.

“I always try to make sure that I stay within the rules and the umpires were keeping me in line.”

Selwood spoke to reporters after the Cats were put through a gruelling training session at Deakin University’s Waurn Ponds campus near Geelong on Saturday as they prepare for next Friday night’s preliminary final.

Important defender Lachie Henderson removed any lingering doubts over his fitness when he took part in the searching 90-minute hitout.

Henderson hasn’t played since undergoing knee surgery after round 22, but he trained strongly in the willing session.

“He worked really hard to get back for the Hawks game and he just missed out by one or two days I reckon,” Selwood said of Henderson.

“But he’s looking really strong and now it’s up to the match committee to sort all of that out.”