Ailing Gazza steps up when it matters
ROUND 17: GEELONG V ST KILDA
WHEN Blake Acres kicked St Kilda’s seventh goal of the match at the 12-minute mark of the last term to cut Geelong’s lead to 13 points, the game was effectively in the balance in the Round 17 clash at GMHBA Stadium.
Having given up a 10-point three-quarter time advantage against the Western Bulldogs a week earlier, the Cats were at risk of falling to a team outside the eight for a second straight game, this time on their home deck.
It had, once again, been a scrappy contest, with neither side really playing with any great fluency for large patches and both playing below what they would consider to be their best brand of football.
For Geelong’s sake, and for that of the game, a spark was required, and it came via one who is no stranger to pleasing the GMHBA Stadium masses.
Gary Ablett has long wowed crowds in Geelong — be it in a Cats guernsey or a Gold Coast one — but what made his cameo performance even more special this time around was the fact he was doing it on one leg.
Clearly troubled by an injury suffered when an opponent fell across his hip in the second quarter, Ablett had moved deep into attack after half-time and sensed something special was required if the Cats were to
C. Guthrie 2, E. Ratugolea 2, G. Ablett 2, G. Miers, M. Duncan, P. Dangerfield, T. Atkins, T. Hawkins, T. Kelly.
J. Bruce 3, B. Long 2, B. Acres, J. Lonie, R. Marshall.
P. Dangerfield, M. Duncan, G. Miers, T. Stewart, J. Selwood, H. Taylor.
R. Marshall, L. Dunstan, J. Gresham, J. Steele. 24,035 at GMHBA Stadium. avoid another loss. He first laid a strong tackle on Jack Newnes in the forward pocket after the Acres goal and snapped from a set shot to give Geelong some breathing space, a handy buffer of 20 points.
Thirty seconds later, he sealed the contest when — as he so often does — he read the fall of the ball from a marking contest 20m from goal better than everybody else in the vicinity and snapped truly again over his shoulder.
The two majors might not be the most significant he has kicked in his career, but in the context of the match and what it meant for his team’s season it was an exceptional minute of football.
There is no doubt Ablett would have been rightly applauded by his teammates and coaches for showing the strength to stay on the ground despite his obvious discomfort.
“I didn’t want to call it a night,” he said.
“I was struggling to run on it but I felt it warmed up a little bit, which was a good thing.
“I have played a bit of footy down there (in the forward line) now and I knew if I could just get down there and play my part and kick a couple of goals — which I was able to do in the last quarter — it could go towards helping us win the game.
“We didn’t play the way we would have liked in the first half, but every game is a hard game to win.
“It is hard to be at your best every single week.
“Like every week, we will go away and look at the tape and the areas we need to improve, but we have done pretty well to this point, we are sitting on top of the ladder.
“The great thing about this group is they are never satisfied.”
The Cats knew when they recruited Ablett from the Suns at the end of 2017 that he would not need to get 30-plus possessions every week to have an impact, and even more so this year, the dual Brownlow medallist is showing how damaging he can be when he finds space close to goal.
For Geelong fans, and for that matter true football fans of any team, it was a joy to see the 35-year-old hitting the scoreboard when the game was on the line.
Perhaps more tellingly, though, Ablett’s last-quarter heroics will rightly send a subtle reminder to opposition clubs just how crucial he is to Geelong’s chances come September — even when on just one leg.