GEELONG skipper Joel Selwood has laughed off his exchange of words with Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury as the siren went to end Sunday's game at the MCG.

Selwood joked that he needed to be smart enough next time to not stand alongside the best player on the ground when the siren went in a game the Cats had lost.

"He was the closest one to me so I was taking a little bit of frustration out on him," Selwood said.

The skipper said he spoke to opponents regularly throughout a game.

"Half of it doesn't make sense. That was just another time of it," Selwood said.

Given it was the Cats first loss of the season and just Collingwood's second win Selwood had some verbal ammunition to fire at Pendlebury.

Speaking to Selwood on Collingwood media's Jock and Journo podcast the Magpies skipper said it was awkward when the siren blew right in the middle of their exchange.

"It was quite awkward because you are in the heat of the moment and then you are supposed to switch straight off and shake hands and have a laugh, but if you have a laugh you probably get crushed as well," Pendlebury said.

The duo came together for some push and shove at a centre bounce just before three-quarter time but neither reacted to each other in an untoward manner.

Selwood said he had no problem with the actions of Magpies' tagger Levi Greenwood who restricted the Cats' champion to just 17 touches, following his career best 43 disposals against St Kilda.

He said it was simply a case of the Collingwood midfielder defeating him again and he hoped he had the chance to turn the tables at some point.

Selwood said he knew he was not a sore loser and moved on very quickly after the game to discuss how the Cats could improve on their performance the next time they played.

"A picture can tell a thousand words [and] in many ways this has this time," Selwood said.