Ablett shoulders injury burden

PREMIERSHIP Cat Tom Lonergan says Gary Ablett is secretly battling an ongoing shoulder problem.

Geelong coach Chris Scott has fiercely defended the champion midfielder’s form in the face of stinging criticism from Ablett’s premiership teammate Cameron Mooney at the weekend.

Mooney said Ablett wasn’t playing for the team after the dual Brownlow medallist gathered 17 possessions and two tackles in the win against the Swans on Thursday night.

But gun defender Lonergan, who retired last season, said Ablett’s shoulder was still giving him grief. Ablett had surgery on it in late 2016.

“He is still trying to find his position in the team, and he is coming off some horrific injuries,” Lonergan said.

“I know the shoulder one is a lot worse than probably anyone knows about.

“I’m not sure whether that’s in his head when he is playing that inside midfield role, in traffic.

“But I just always thought we got Gaz for a reason and that’s for the back end of the season — for September — because class comes to the top at that point in the year.”

Lonergan backed Geelong to seriously challenge Richmond for this year’s flag and said that Ablett could still be a weapon for the Cats in the do-or-die matches when September rolls around. Ablett has not played finals since 2010 when he left the Cattery for a seven-year stint at Gold Coast.

“I think the prelim, when everyone is a bit nervous, I think the cream rises,” Lonergan said.

“We haven’t played enough footy at the G [in recent years], but we play eight games [this year], and there is still two more to go.

“We play Richmond twice, so we get two good looks at them, and we have got some players coming back in and still got depth in the reserves.

“I think the Cats will be right among it at the end of the year.”