While careful not to criticise Leigh Matthews, Troy Selwood conceded he had been "stuck in a rut" for the last 18 months under the AFL legend and credited new Brisbane Lions coach Michael Voss with his resurgence.

Selwood, 25, has emerged as a half-forward surprise packet in his sixth season after he appeared pigeon-holed as a tagger under Matthews.

Voss is expected to opt for ex-teammate Selwood as the man to stop former Brownlow Medallist Ben Cousins in his long-awaited return from injury for Richmond at the MCG on Saturday.

Selwood said he had been so frustrated with his form under Matthews that he became "paralysed".

But he claimed a Voss pre-season chat turned it all around after Matthews walked.

"It comes back to being able to start with a clean slate with a new coach, having the faith," Selwood said.

"At the start of the season Vossy probably had more faith in my ability than I did.

"He sat down and we had a heart to heart about it."

Selwood added: "Voss just said to me 'the blokes in the inner sanctum really know how important you can be'.

"That was the catalyst and it was something I needed for a while because I was stuck in a rut and probably putting a lot of pressure on myself to try and get out of it.

"The more pressure you put on yourself, the more paralysed you become - I just couldn't get out of it in the last year-and-a-half (but) it wasn't through lack of trying."

Asked if he would have liked more positive feedback from Matthews, Selwood said: "We were always very honest with one another - I never want to criticise Leigh because he did a fantastic job.

"He took my career a long way too.

"Yeah, I'm not too sure how to answer that one."

Selwood also appeared to defend Matthews when asked if he had been typecast by the four-time premiership coach.

"I had a great relationship with Leigh," he said.

"I really enjoyed my time under Leigh but I probably got to a stage where I felt I could only do a couple of roles.

"And I know what I can and what I can't do. I make sure I am playing to my strengths."

He will have to dip into his new-found confidence if he lines up against Cousins.

"I played against him once before and he has done a number on me," Selwood laughed.

"It was early in my career. I think he won his Brownlow that year (2005) so he didn't just beat me, he beat a lot of players that year.

"I think it is a good challenge to try and get one back."

Voss said Selwood's resurgence had "not surprised" him.

"It's the coach's job to be able to see the capabilities in players," he said.

"I just think he has shown enough over the period of time that I have known him that I could rely on him."

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