THE future of Geelong's premiership midfield is one step closer to being assured after Joel Selwood committed to the club through to the end of 2010.

The 2007 Rising Star award winner reached the agreement at the end of last week, his manager, Tom Petroro of Stride Sports, said yesterday.

Petroro said his client was happy with the deal, but did acknowledge that Selwood had accepted less than he could demand on the open market in order to remain with the Cats.

"Whenever any club is successful, you're always going to have to take a little bit less to stay," Petroro said. "But the other side is if you are successful you can pick up some opportunities from a marketing perspective, you know your profile will grow and other opportunities will come about."

Geelong chief executive Brian Cook said securing Selwood had become more important because of recent changes made to the draft system.

"It's even more important now for all clubs given the AFL's rule states that you have to be signed by October 31, or they can put themselves in the draft, and coupled with that is the possibilities of a Gold Coast or Western Sydney-skewed draft … all those things have catalysed clubs into premature action," Cook said.

Selwood joins a stellar list of Cats who have either confirmed their future with the club, or have agreed to terms for their next contract. Just three members of the 2007 premiership team are now left to be secured — Tom Harley, Joel Corey and Paul Chapman — though the trio are reportedly keen to stay.