Forward march call for Gazza

TRIPLE premiership Cat Paul Chapman says Gary Ablett must spend most of his game time as a forward next year, worried the Geelong midfield plays “Russian roulette” too often.

But Chapman says Ablett will only thrive in that role if he embraces it and works on his craft as a small forward.

Cats assistant coach Corey Enright this week foreshadowed more time forward for Ablett next year after he played in attack for 44 per cent of Geelong’s last month of football.

Chapman believes too many Cats midfielders only have attacking instincts, keen for the Geelong midfield to find a better blend of attack and defence.

Ablett still kicked 16 goals for the year and was involved in the third-most score chains of any AFL midfielder.

But when he was pushed forward in the last three rounds of the home-andaway season he kicked six goals before a poor elimination final, where Geelong was trounced by Melbourne.

Chapman believes the Cats are capable of a premiership surge next year but only if they tinker with their midfield set-up.

“I think something needs to change. The stats are pretty damning with the midfield. They play Russian roulette with nothing in between. They look great when they win it, but when they don’t they get hurt.

“I see all of them being pretty attacking mids. When Danger [Patrick Dangerfield] and Gaz are in there they are ball winners who want to impact the game. Then it is left to Joel Selwood to defend.”

Chapman, who kicked 366 goals in his 280 games for Geelong and Essendon, says Ablett should embrace the new opportunity.

“The toughest thing for Gary is to accept the role. Gaz loves to be a midfielder who is where the action is.

“He feels like he most impacts a game there. But if he [embraces it], once he does that he will work a lot harder on his craft there.

“It’s a great idea.”