Ablett right at home in hoops

WHAT’S scarier? The fact Gary Ablett, on the back of no preseason games and a hamstring strain, could manage 39 touches and a goal on his homecoming?

Or that the Little Master is confident he can only get better?

Either way, you’d be terrified if you were an opposition coach.

And maybe, if you were Geelong coach Chris Scott, you’d be giggling with joy.

It was the perfect return to life in blue and white hoops for the champion, who played a leading role in Geelong’s three-point win over Melbourne at the MCG yesterday.

There shouldn’t be any doubt over the 33-year-old’s body or his motives after yesterday.

He is back and he will make a massive difference to a Geelong side that has fallen just short of making a grand final in the past two seasons.

Cats fans — who hadn’t seen Ablett in Geelong colours since his 40-possession match in the 2010 preliminary final loss to Collingwood — had to wait almost five minutes for their hero to get his first touch.

And his first kick wasn’t as glorious as you’d expect — it ended up out on the full.

But once he got that little monkey off his back, the ball flowed freely into his hands. And then a goal at the 20-minute mark of the first quarter really announced his arrival.

“I was a little bit (nervous), yeah, when I was warming up,” Ablett said.

“But I knew that would go pretty quickly when I got out there. It took me a little bit to get into the game, I was a bit rusty early but I’ll be better for the run and I’m looking forward to next week.

“It’s always good to get your hands on the ball early, there’s no doubt about that.

“It was good to just be out there running around with some of the guys I was running around with seven years ago. And being able to play in Joel’s milestone game, it was pretty special.”

Ablett fatigued late in the game, but said his body and hamstring were “fine”. GEELONG forward Daniel Menzel revealed he apologised to coach Chris Scott after missing one of the easiest set shots of his career in the Cats’ win over Melbourne yesterday.

The miss came at a crucial time, with Geelong leading by just five points with almost 17 minutes gone in the last quarter.

Menzel was just 12m out directly in front when the ball sprayed off the side of his boot for a behind.

A goal would have taken the margin out to 11 points, forcing the Dees to kick two goals in 10 minutes to secure the four points.

“Honestly, I put my head in my hands and thought I’d cost us this one,” Menzel said.

“I even did say to Scotty after the game, ‘sorry for nearly costing us the game’. It happens.

“It showed in the last quarter, I was so fatigued, my ball drop was no good.

“It’s not an excuse, it’s a terrible miss. But it showed in the last five minutes fatigue set in.”

The miss came after Menzel managed a brilliant one-on-one mark. He took a similar mark again just minutes later. The kick from a bit further out and from a tighter angle also missed.

Those behinds wouldn’t come back to bite Menzel, with the Cats holding on to a three-point victory. Scott said there was never a need for an apology.

“In those situations he never needs to apologise, to me or anyone,” Scott said.

“He put himself in the game. He didn’t finish. If we lost the game, we wouldn’t be looking at him.”

Scott said more focus should be put on what the talented forward did to get that opportunity to kick a goal.

“When the ball was floating forward, the call in the box was, ‘how could anyone mark that?’, but he marked it,” Scott said.

“And then the ball came in again. And you know what competitors do? They make sure they mark the next one.”