Cats need Gaz for flag
Club must stick with its plan
GEELONG needs to go as hard as it can for Gary Ablett. The deal just has to get done.
The Cats have made a clear shift in recent years to give up their prized early draft picks to bring in mature-aged players capable of keeping the club in premiership contention.
Geelong is too far down the path to turn back now. The Cats simply have to win a premiership with this approach. And Ablett is the man who can help them do that.
The biggest issue at the Cats has been their lack of scoring firepower.
Tom Hawkins needs help up there, I’ve been banging on about this year for years, so Ablett is going to provide the help that is desperately needed. If you’re Chris Scott, why wouldn’t you go after Ablett? You’d have the best midfield trio in the game at your disposal, and all can go forward.
At any time you would have two of Patrick Dangerfield, Joel Selwood and Ablett in the guts and have the other one resting in the forward line. How formidable is that? Dangerfield and Ablett would share most of that forward load, so you’re looking at 40 to 50 goals from each of them, and suddenly Geelong’s a two or three-goal better side every game.
Geelong’s premiership window is wide open now.
From a club point of view in recent years, it has gone down the path of bringing in Dangerfield, Lachie Henderson, Zach Tuohy, Zac Smith and Scott Selwood. The bulk of its best draft picks have gone out the door as a result and it has used its later picks on mature, ready-made state-league players.
It is a vastly different path from the club’s previous method of going to the draft and building a premiership team from the ground up.
That’s not to say this cur- rent administration’s way is wrong, it’s just that we’re seeing two completely different methods of trying to build a winning list.
The Cats haven’t gone down the path of regenerating with strong draft picks, they’ve gone down the trade and free agency path, potentially at the expense of their future, so they need a premiership to justify that path.
Right now, the Cats are sitting on two preliminary final losses where the finals losses have actually been getting bigger and bigger.
The Ablett move might just be the best thing out there to bridge the gap, another injection of top-end talent.
The same for Jake Stringer. If the Cats can somehow do a deal to get both to the club, they have to do it because this is the path they have chosen.
Geelong has obviously shown the door to many loved and celebrated 30-plus players. Ablett is the exception to the rule. And don’t forget the Cats were keen for Corey Enright to play on this year at 35.
It comes down to what they’re still able to produce. And while it might look hypocritical on face value given the likes of Steve Johnson, James Kelly, Paul Chapman, etc were moved on, Ablett at 34 is still able to produce at an elite level.
I remember, back at the start when Ablett said he wanted to come home, that I thought it was a bit contradictory by the club to be showing the door to those guys and then reopening it for a bloke who walked away.
But the more I’ve seen the forward line struggle, the more I realised that it’s a move that just has to happen from a Geelong point of view.
Gold Coast has, publicly at least, been quite militant in the way that it has demanded a high return for Ablett.
Sure the Suns have a lot of the power, but I put it back on them, too.
The only reason that club has any relevance is because of Ablett. The massive money he took seven years ago was not only for his footy ability but for him to be the face of the club.
He won a Brownlow Medal, best-and-fairests and, of course, games off his own back — constantly.
But the promises he would have been given about success and culture, none of them have come to fruition, so the Suns haven’t held up their end of the bargain.
The greatest player arguably of all time hasn’t been seen on the Friday night stage at the Suns. He hasn’t played a final.
What does Geelong give up? I think the Cats would dearly love to part with only a third-round selection but it is going to be more complex than that. It will have to be a player.
If it’s only a second-round pick, you’d take that in a heartbeat. Daniel Menzel and Steven Motlop look like they’re walking out the door, so they could be part of the puzzle, although both being free agents adds another hurdle.
What does Geelong’s future look like in five years given its lack of quality draft picks?
Hard to know, isn’t it? A lack of first-round draft picks means you naturally have doubts over the level of topend talent coming through.
That’s why the Cats, given how close they are to a flag now, have to keep loading up.
The Cats are living and dying by the sword and they have to do what’s needed to get Ablett.