Gazza best ‘yet to come’
IT’S an ominous sign when both Gary Ablett and Chris Scott think the best is yet to come for the star on-baller in 2018.
Plenty has been written about the champion in his 309-game career, yet somehow he continues to find ways to entertain, surprise and prove the doubters wrong.
Saturday night’s 37-possession, three-goal masterclass wasn’t a statement, it was more than that.
It was vintage Ablett in every single way, a beautiful throwback to those matches he dominated a decade ago when he first marauded in blue and white hoops.
Proof that he is far from done at the elite level. Proof his hamstrings are fine. Proof he can be a major player in guiding the Cats to more finals action come the end of this season.
“(My) body is feeling good. I feel like I’m really starting to get some run back in my legs. The two hamstring injuries obviously put me back a little bit,” Ablett said after the 17.19 (121) to 4.12 (36) win at Metricon Stadium.
“I lost a little bit of conditioning. I don’t like to say ‘at my age’, but the older you get the longer it takes to just get that run back. I felt really good tonight, I felt strong through my legs.
“I probably played (a higher) percentage of game time this week, it would have been 85 or 90 per cent which is where I want to get to. I was happy I was able to run out the game.”
Relishing the space he was allowed, the former Gold Coast Suns captain toyed with his former team at times.
His goal from the boundary in the last quarter was almost identical to that from Round 7, 2017. Same result, different colours.
Ablett had polled Brownlow votes against 17 of the 18 AFL teams heading into Saturday night. He will make that 18/18 when the votes are read out for Round 11 on Brownlow Medal night.
“He did deliver,” coach Chris Scott said.
“I thought he played really well, it was the best game he played for us, clearly. I said during the week that it wasn’t unexpected that after two hamstring issues he might take a little bit of time to build his way into the season. Even if he was in good health and prepared well, there is a settling in period with a new system.
“We play a different system to the one he had got used to at the Suns, different team mates. His class really shone through tonight, I thought he had a big impact on the game.”
If Gold Coast Suns fans planned to boo Ablett every time he touched the ball, they would have been hoarse by half time.
He had it 17 times by the main break, the Cats comfortably up by 54 points.
Ablett’s successor as captain Tom Lynch was the first one to get physical on the Little Master, while Touk Miller and Steven May also threw their weight at him at times. But that was really the only time the Suns players got near Ablett as they struggled to contain a Geelong midfield that was gifted time and space.
Ablett enjoyed the physical battle with his former teammates, giving as good as he got.
“I expected that to be the case,” Ablett said of the extra attention from the Suns. “That goes both ways obviously. It a competitive sport, it’s a contact sport. It’s what makes the game fun I guess.”
Ablett admitted there were “mixed emotions” and “nerves” heading into Saturday night’s game, but they soon died down.
“Once the adrenaline kicks in, you’re always pretty good. You get out there, you know what you need to be doing,” Ablett said.
“It’s probably just the lead into the game, the half an hour before the game where you have a myriad of things running through your head. I had lots of fun out there, I got to compete against some of my really good mates and compete with some of my really good mates. It’s a win-win.”