A legend of his time
Ablett’s great deeds deserve due recognition
Gary Ablett Sr is widely regarded as the most naturally talented footballer to grace the game.
GARY Ablett Sr may just be the greatest player to have ever played Australian rules football.
He is without doubt a legend of the game and should be afforded that honour at the annual Australian Football Hall of Fame dinner this year.
Ablett single-handedly drew crowds through the gate in an era when there were no such things as indoor stadia and covered grandstands.
His athleticism was ahead of its time, his marking was a feature of the weekly highlight reels, his strength was simply surreal and his nous for knowing where the goals were was freakish.
Only four men — Tony Lockett, Gordon Coventry, Jason Dunstall and Doug Wade — kicked more goals in the VFL/AFL than Ablett and they all played the entirety of their careers at full-forward.
Ablett kicked 1030 majors and spent just three years playing out of the goal square permanently.
Two of the aforementioned quartet — Lockett and Coventry — are already legends.
Ablett was universally admired by opposition players, coaches and fans, and is widely regarded as the most naturally talented footballer to grace the game.
Rex Hunt — at his peak the No. 1 caller in football — labelled him the Pontiff.
His list of achievements include: 248 VFL/AFL games, 11 state of origin games for Victoria (including one as captain), a Norm Smith Medal, a Carji Greeves Medal, three Coleman medals, selection in four VFL/AFL teams of the year as well as four All-Australian guernseys, a Leigh Matthews Trophy as the AFL MVP, nine-time Geelong leading goalkicker, and a member of both the Geelong and the AFL teams of the century.
Of the 21 players named in that side, only seven have not been bestowed legend status.
But while his CV is filled with accomplishments, there was something about Ablett to which no trophy or medal could do justice.
There is no amount of data that could properly explain his brilliance to people who didn’t get to see him play.
The Australian Football Hall of Fame states that for a player to be elevated to legend status they need to have had “a particularly significant positive impact on the game of Australian football”.
Ablett did that and then some.
It is understood his son Gary is supportive of a push to see his father installed as a legend. The Cats, too, have long been of the view that he warrants a place among the code’s most exclusive club.
It took far too long for the Hall of Fame committee of the day to welcome Ablett just as a member but the time has come to induct him as a legend. It is just the right thing to do. HARD to go past North Melbourne, which now sits seventh with a 4-3 record, including wins over Hawthorn and Sydney on the road. Was critical of St Kilda and Carlton earlier in the year for the manner in which they lost to the Kangaroos, but upon reflection perhaps more credit should have been given to Brad Scott’s team for those performances and making the Saints and the Blues look as bad as they did. It’s difficult to know how far they can go this year, but we’ll learn a hell of a lot about North this week when it takes on Richmond. Win that and there’s no reason why a top-four finish shouldn’t be on the cards. PREMIERSHIP teams aren’t renowned for losing three straight games, but despite the hype over summer, Essendon is miles away from those sorts of heights at the moment. Didn’t have the Bombers finishing in the top eight in pre-season predictions — unlike many commentators — and they could still get there, but the way they are playing it is difficult to see it happening. Make no mistake, Collingwood, Melbourne and Hawthorn look like pretty handy sides, but the manner of the Bombers’ recent losses is what is most alarming. There is just no spark at Essendon and it needs to find it quickly because Carlton — yes, Carlton — looms as a danger game on Saturday if things go awry again.