g ablett round 3 and 4

[madcat001]

didn't see the game against melbourne in round 3, but word has it gary had a shocker by his own standards, while still getting a bit of the pill on the stats sheet. I was however at the game yesterday and while i only noticed gary on a few occasions, almost every time I saw him, he had his head down, was either spraying a runner/trainer or holding his hands up in disgust towards the coaches box (3rd term?). I don't remember him doing any of his usual spectacular moves and overall looked very down in his work rate. On one occasion I remember the ball late in the third quarter on the hbf flank where gary was only 30 metres away from the ball which was in dispute and he never even raised a trot. I know he still had 24 touches, but is the fella going through a quiet patch?

anyone else got any thoughts?

 

[Rosella]

didn't see the game against melbourne in round 3, but word has it gary had a shocker by his own standards, while still getting a bit of the pill on the stats sheet. I was however at the game yesterday and while i only noticed gary on a few occasions, almost every time I saw him, he had his head down, was either spraying a runner/trainer or holding his hands up in disgust towards the coaches box (3rd term?). I don't remember him doing any of his usual spectacular moves and overall looked very down in his work rate. On one occasion I remember the ball late in the third quarter on the hbf flank where gary was only 30 metres away from the ball which was in dispute and he never even raised a trot. I know he still had 24 touches, but is the fella going through a quite patch?

anyone else got any thoughts?

Quiet.

I don't think he's fully fit atm. He's a perfectionist who gets frustrated when things aren't going well, with himself and everyone else around him. I wouldn't worry at this stage of the year.

 

[couchy555]

Nah wouldnt say shocker. still gettin over 25 touches again and he's got a real high efficency rate. Just havent seen him have his usual run and bounces much. If these are his bad games then ud have to be pretty happy with that.

 

[Brasil2007]

He seems to be getting most of his touches on the half back line now and teams really focus on surrounding him at all times. Keeps him fairly quiet but I don't know that it has much impact on the team, it just frees up Corey and co . They mentioned yesterday (on Krock I think) that he was now handballing a lot more than kicking.

 

[Glassjaw]

Honestly, the last two weeks he looks like he's rocked up without his footy brain. He's been ordinary, to say the least.

 

[Duskfire]

Honestly, the last two weeks he looks like he's rocked up without his footy brain. He's been ordinary, to say the least.

Ordinary? Yesterday he had something like 26 possessions with a 90%+ efficiency. That is not ordinary.

 

[Glassjaw]

They're not ordinary stats, but his game was ordinary. Take your rose coloured glasses off and watch the game.

 

[Duskfire]

They're not ordinary stats, but his game was ordinary. Take your rose coloured glasses off and watch the game.

Right. So he has awesome stats but an ordinary game? Your logic makes complete sense. He was quieter then normal that is true, but far from ordinary.

 

[Glassjaw]

Right. So he has awesome stats but an ordinary game? Your logic makes complete sense.

I never said that. It's not an awesome "stat game". Sometimes stats tell a story, sometimes they don't. Like Rooke against Sydney in 2006. Only had 18 touches but was easily BOG.

If you think Ablett was anything more than ordinary you need to open your second eye.

If other people didn't think he wasn't playing great footy, then this thread wouldn't have started now would've it?

 

[Duskfire]

I never said that. It's not an awesome "stat game". Sometimes stats tell a story, sometimes they don't. Like Rooke against Sydney in 2006. Only had 18 touches but was easily BOG.

If you think Ablett was anything more than ordinary you need to open your second eye.

If other people didn't think he wasn't playing great footy, then this thread wouldn't have started now would've it?

We had someone start a thread last week about how they didn't think Bartell was that good and wasn't sure why he was rated. I don't think thats a good point in your argument to give However, since this is pointless, lets just agree to disagree. I think Ablett was good but quieter then normal, you think he was ordinary. No amount of stat throwing is likely to change either of our minds, so lets just leave it that.

 

[Cohzee]

He looked reluctant to kick.

 

[catempire]

If these are his down weeks I'll be pretty happy.

 

[Ricardo]

He has been quiet the last two weeks, i can't believe the stats he's getting because from what i've seen he hasn't had that much impact on the game.

He is such a good player I guess we expect him to be at 100% capacity every week, if these are his bad games i'll (and more importantly him will) be pleased.

 

[cozdawg#09]

Right. So he has awesome stats but an ordinary game? Your logic makes complete sense. He was quieter then normal that is true, but far from ordinary.

It is logical actually. Disposal efficiency only means that his disposals end up in a Cats players' hands. It doesn't mean he's using the ball well. I have thought his start to the season has been ordinary and he's been pretty selfish too.

 

[pocketROCKET]

Problem for Gaz is he set such a high standard for himself in 2007 and now everybody expects that week in and week out. I was at the game Yesterday and St. Kilda certainly surrounded him whenever he got the ball, restricting his ability to run and carry (which we all love). He's put up with heavy tags for a lot of his career but he was so brilliant in 2007 becuase he jus obliterated them. I'm certain Gaz would be first to admit that his last few weeks haven't been his best but to be a bit down and form and still rack up the numbers that he is is sublime. As a GFC supporter it doesn't overly worry me if he is a bit down becuase it turns the load a bit to the other boys in the midfield and so far they are coping terrifically well. I feel it a bit of an insult that people jump of Gaz so quickly just because he goes a few weeks without 30 possies and blistering runs and goals out of the midfield. I'm certain any other side would love it if their superstar was out of form and still managed to play as well as Gazza has done (does the name Kerr ring a bell?) The true test of a champion comes with how they cope with adversity and I have no doubt Gaz is a champion.

 

[WE Are Geelong]

This thread is insane. Just two rounds of so so 20 plus touches football from Gaz? Against Essendon he was freakish at times. The season is 4 weeks old? Should he be full tilt best form of his life and then just waltz through the season at that same lofty height?

Have people actually played footy on this board or sport to any standard at all? Tiger Woods was 8 shots off the pace at the Masters after 2 days...what the hell are we going to do about that? Goodness me what the hell is wrong with Tiger...and whats wrong with Gaz?

Sheer madness this thread.

 

[cancat]

St Kilda tagged him effectively for quite a long time but as the game went on he got away and had much more influence. Not worried, the boy is a genius. The footy club will make sure he is in peak condition by the end of the season.

 

[wendy]

I haven't watched yesterday's game in full, but at one stage the commentator mentioned that from 21 disposals he had hit the target 21 times, not bad for someone who was ordinary. So from his first 21 possessions he had a 100% efficiency rate. I think too many people expect him to have 30+ possessions every week, and kick in excess of 3 goals. We are a very unselfish team, we share the ball so much, sometimes too much, but he can't be in the spotlight all of the time.
Wendy

 

[madcat001]

I wasn't so much saying he had bad games and needs to lift or anything. I was more talking about his body language on the field and the image he was giving. Personally to me he looked down on his normal self eg. tired/sore/injured/not interested in the game. I'm not calling for him to be dropped or saying that he has been pathetic, just noting that he looks a bit down on his normal self and wondering if others had noticed the difference and have any thoughts.

Sorry, thought forums were for discussion.

 

[Ricketts]

He'll only be an inside player from now on due to the close marking he gets, which isn't a bad thing given how quick and smart he works.

Rarely we'll see him running free and bouncing in acres of space. That job would be for the ones that get under the opposition's guard and aren't marked as tightly. Which is fair enough too, it's a team game and if our 14th to 18th best players carve up the opposition more than their 14th to 18th best players then that's a win. They can't stop us all.

 

[Glassjaw]

I wasn't so much saying he had bad games and needs to lift or anything. I was more talking about his body language on the field and the image he was giving. Personally to me he looked down on his normal self eg. tired/sore/injured/not interested in the game. I'm not calling for him to be dropped or saying that he has been pathetic, just noting that he looks a bit down on his normal self and wondering if others had noticed the difference and have any thoughts.

Sorry, thought forums were for discussion.

I'm with you man, but you'll find a lot of one-eyed Gaz love in here. You can see it in the votes thread after he has a quiet game yet still gets votes continuously.

 

[dadonis]

i think what's happening with ablett at the moment is symptomatic of what we're seeing with the team in general - a struggle to find the peak motivation to play their best football.

sure, we've shown patches of brilliance in all the games, and completely dominated some - ala essendon, but there's been lengthy patches in almost all where we've been beaten, but thankfully managed to still get over the line.

it's a psychological battle now. after climbing everest last year, it must be enormously difficult to get up and raise the full battle steam every week. after running out 20 goals better than anyone in the competition, there's not alot left to prove to themselves on a weekly basis, and seems to me that some of the team of the team are really struggling to find that killer instinct right now.

there are a few of the stalwarts still in peak run - scarlett, ling, enright, corey, chapman in particular have looked consistent to me.

mooney, johnson, ablett, bartell have looked the opposite. i know they've had decent returns, and they've probably been marked up for more attention than ever, but after 4 rounds, i don't feel they're anywhere near 100%.

that bodes really well for us though. if we can keep winning, when the top echelon of the team are either struggling, or injured (ottens, ego), and we're not yet in collective top gear, then when we get to the business end of the year we've got alot to look forward to again!

trick is not to get complacent though - we need to keep improving to stay no.1. a few young teams like the hawks are just behind us, and afew of the lower lights like essendon and the blues are only a season or 2 away from being threatening...

carn cats - at least 1 back to back..!

 

[Duskfire]

I'm with you man, but you'll find a lot of one-eyed Gaz love in here. You can see it in the votes thread after he has a quiet game yet still gets votes continuously.

Why is it that those of us who disagree are automatically one-eyed concerning Gablett? I just simply disagree with you. Heck, he probably isn't even in my top 5 favourite Geelong players at the moment. There is no one-eyed here, I just think your wrong.

 

[Glassjaw]

Why is it that those of us who disagree are automatically one-eyed concerning Gablett? I just simply disagree with you. Heck, he probably isn't even in my top 5 favourite Geelong players at the moment. There is no one-eyed here, I just think your wrong.

I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about the whole Geelong forum, not just this thread. The amount of times I've seen Jimmy and Gaz in the votes when they don't deserve to be is laughable. But people continue to give them votes because they like them. Hey, I like them too, but I'm not going to bump them up the voting list and give them more than they deserve because they are higher rated or more liked players. Just the same as you don't see many Byrnes haters admitting when he plays well. Some do sure, but not all.

 

[madcat001]

Why is it that those of us who disagree are automatically one-eyed concerning Gablett? I just simply disagree with you. Heck, he probably isn't even in my top 5 favourite Geelong players at the moment. There is no one-eyed here, I just think your wrong.

what do you mean wrong? Are you trying to say we are saying hes playing badly and you're saying hes playing well?