‘It was a tough loss’
Ablett not prepared to declare season a failure
GEELONG midfielder Gary Ablett says his team is still capable of winning a premiership in the future after it fell in disappointing fashion to Melbourne last night.
Ablett was one of the Cats’ better players after the first quarter, in which they were blown away by the Demons in familiar fashion.
The two-time Brownlow medallist stopped short of declaring the 2018 season a failure but conceded it was a missed opportunity.
“I don’t like to use that word, and I don’t know what really I feel right now, there are mixed emotions but you play footy to play in finals and win and ultimately to have a crack at the premierships,” he said.
“It was a tough loss tonight and I know how disappointed the boys are in there and it is an opportunity that we haven’t made the most of.
“You can’t take anything away from Melbourne though, they have been a great side all year and were great out there tonight, so we need to go away and look at the tape and make sure we are improving.”
Ablett finished with 27 disposals on a tough night, with Melbourne’s appetite for the contest a highlight.
Despite giving a glimmer of hope of coming back in the third quarter, he said it was frustrating to give up a 31-point lead so early in the match.
“Melbourne was very good in the contest in the first quarter, which we knew they were going to be, and it was an area of the game we knew we would have to fix up in the next three quarters,” Ablett said.
“Unfortunately, we gave them the lead that we did and it was always going to be tough coming back from that.
“I think we were the best fourth-quarter team in the league in the regular season but we just can’t afford to give teams leads like that and it is something we need to look at and we need to fix up.”