Plenty of kicks, but not the same Gazza

GARY Ablett is not the footballer he was and maybe not the footballer Geelong was hoping it would get.

Ablett — at almost 34 — has become a safe footballer.

Where once he would accumulate, accelerate and penetrate, Ablett’s first two games back at Geelong have seen him largely accumulate.

Ablett is being run down and tackled from behind as he kicks more times than can be remembered. His strength in the contest and balance are still evident, but what’s more evident is Ablett’s preference to demand the short ball and give off the short ball.

He was much better in Round 2 than Round 1 despite having fewer possessions — and his final quarter against the Hawks was huge — but it’s what he’s doing with those possessions that is curious.

Ablett has become the short-kick king.

Champion Data has been taking stats on long kicks and short kicks since 2010. Against the Hawks, Ablett recorded his fourth-highest percentage of short kicks. His percentage across the first two rounds is almost 72 per cent, the highest in the past eight years.

Ablett’s former coach Rodney Eade acknowledged he sees a “different” Ablett, but argues that comes with age, which affects the body, which affects the thinking.

“He’s a perfectionist, Gary, and maybe he’s been cutting the distance off to eliminate any errors, that’s the only thing I can think of,’’ Eade said.

“He wants everything perfect, therefore kicking it longer there might be more chance of it getting cut off.”

In Round 1, Ablett had 39 disposals, but there was a caveat. Almost every commentator said it was an OK 39-disposal game because it lacked typical Ablett dash, contested ball impact and scoreboard impact.

In Round 2, he had 35 disposals, five tackles and 15 contested disposals.

Eade, who coached Ablett for three seasons at the Gold Coast Suns before being sacked towards the end of the 2017 season, noted the improvement from Round 1 to Round 2. “I thought he got the edge back a bit in the physical way against the Hawks, he won really crucial balls, he lifted,” Eade said.