GAZZA GOOD TO GO AGAIN
Cam Mooney on why Geelong champ should play on in 2020
PLUS: Cats chase 11 home games at GMHBA Stadium & the latest AFL Grand Final news
THERE are not too many players who are the exception to the rule, but Gary Ablett is one of those.
If Ablett wants to play on next year, that’s his call. He has written his own ticket to have the right to decide.
While these situations are always a two-way discussion between the club and player, I feel his opinion will hold the most weight.
After all, he knows better than anyone what he is capable of. If his head, heart and body are invested for one more season, then all he needs to say is, “I’m in, Scotty”.
I have never quite understood the theory that players should retire with something left in the tank.
As far as I am concerned, players — especially those of the rare calibre of Ablett — should retire with nothing left in the tank after squeezing out every single drop of their ability.
It is no stain on your legacy if you play on and it doesn’t work out.
Are we going to think less of Jarryd Roughead because he spent much of the year in the VFL at Box Hill? Do we think less of Jordan Lewis because he was up and down between the ranks this year? Of course not.
Unlike players who are pushed into retirement to free up salary cap space, there are no compelling reasons to send Ablett into the sunset. HE is not on lucrative dollars, so he is no salary cap burden; HE is not holding out deserving players, because the Cats still put full seasons into the likes of Gryan Miers, Tom Atkins and Jordan Clark this year with Ablett in the team; THE Cats do not have a backlog of ageing players to clear out; HE is better than a late pick in the national draft, which is effectively all the Cats stand to gain if he retired; and, ANYWAY, the mid-season draft means he can even be replaced at the end of May if things don’t go to plan in the opening 10 rounds of next season. I would hate to see the Little Master play in the VFL, but if it gets to that, then the Cats at least have an option to let him retire mid-season.
But Ablett, in my mind, can still add value to Geelong next year, on and off the field.
His season this year proved that he was still capable of playing high-level footy in the forward line. At 35 this year he still played 24 games, kicked 34 goals (his best return since 2010) and had more tackles (108) than any season since 2012 — exactly what you want from a small forward.
It was only the fourth season in his career that he laid more than 100 tackles. So that all points to a player who has 12 more months left playing in the forward line.
Not only that, but it is the footy smarts, the elite vision, the assists, the on-field coaching, the mentoring, the experience, the leadership, the aura … all the intangibles that form part of the big picture.
Ablett is also the ultimate professional. You don’t play 345 games with the injury problems he has had if you aren’t meticulous with your preparation. n. He will keep himself fit over r the off-season and return ready dy to go.
He would uld be the first to accept that t his finals s series s wasn ’t t great, but again it comes omes back to the he fact that we hold old him in such high esteem. He is not a 27-year-old year-old Ablett any more, he is s 35 — a very good 35-year-old. d.
STATE OF THE GEELONG LIST
THE list-management management strategy is very clear.
Since 2011, 011, the Cats have tried to simultaneously multaneously rebuild and win the premiership. They y have rejigged the team in n a way that has saved the club from bottoming out ut while still keeping the window open.
Every other club would love ve that level of sustained success. The frustration is just in that final step — not making a grand final.
I know supporters are really disappointed with how this season finished, particularly the second half of the year on the back of a brilliant opening 12 rounds.
But do not lose perspective. This competition has never been as even. It is very hard to continually rise above the pack and play preliminary finals.
This team is still very close. Ablett’s future aside, the two other Cats under the most focus are Tim Kelly and Harry Taylor.
We all know the Kelly situation, but Taylor’s is a little more unclear.
I’m not sure Harry was used in the right role against Richmond.
Taylor is one of the best one-on-one players the club has seen, but, at 33, he should now be used as the loose man — a Matthew Scarlett-type role — not the lockdown defender.
Mark Blicavs is now the club’s best one-on-one player defensively — as he should be as part of a defensive succession plan — and should have played on Tom Lynch, not on a wing.
In time, the club will need to thoroughly explain that move so that supporters can understand why it happened. Leaving questions unanswered will not ease supporter angst. So, does Taylor play on? He is one of those players who is smart enough and respectful enough to know exactly where he’s at.
Geelong needs to show the same level of respect back in return.
Like Ablett, if it does not cost the club much by keeping him on, why wouldn’t you? He would effectively be a full-time coach, too. Taylor is an unbelievable asset.
He is one of the best defenders the club has seen. Let him make that decision.