The Age Footy Legend no 7: Gary Ablett Snr

[Gazza Greatness]

Junior is the better player.

Ablett Jr was the best player in the AFL from 2007-13, with a short break in the middle for Swan and Judd. I have never seen sustained domination like it.

Very few people outside of Geelong supporters would consider Sr to be really among the favourites for Best Ever. But they would consider Jr - alongside probably Carey, Matthews and Coleman.

Ablett Sr was more unique. But Jr was better.

NO..... Jnr was NOT a better footballer then SNR, never was, never will be.... and I'm sure Jnr would be the best one to answer that question of which I already know the answer!

 

[iameviljez]

NO..... Jnr was NOT a better footballer then SNR, never was, never will be.... and I'm sure Jnr would be the best one to answer that question of which I already know the answer!

just shouting doesn't make it true

 

[My Tilly]

Very few people outside of Geelong supporters would consider Sr to be really among the favourites for Best Ever. But they would consider Jr - alongside probably Carey, Matthews and Coleman.

I think you will find quite a lot of neutrals have his father on par with Carey, and certainly in the same discussion as Matthews (for some).
Feels like his father copped unfair scrutiny for his lackluster performances in the 94/95 grand finals. And in 1996, he was certainly underwhelming despite looking well and truly over-the-hill by seasons end.

Junior should have won the 2008 Norm Smith medal. He was simply electric that day. Was still busting his gut in the dying seconds of the game.
A little quiet in the other grand final performances (no different to his oldman) but he had a champion team from top to bottom to get the silverware needed.

It's like if you threw Dustin Martin in that Geelong side of the 80's and 90's. The end result would not have been much different. Those teams leaked too many goals in rapid succession and in the blink of an eye, a grand final was all but over.

 

[iameviljez]

I think you will find quite a lot of neutrals have his father on par with Carey, and certainly in the same discussion as Matthews (for some).
Feels like his father copped unfair scrutiny for his lackluster performances in the 94/95 grand finals. And in 1996, he was certainly underwhelming despite looking well and truly over-the-hill by seasons end.

Junior should have won the 2008 Norm Smith medal. He was simply electric that day. Was still busting his gut in the dying seconds of the game.
A little quiet in the other grand final performances (no different to his oldman) but he had a champion team from top to bottom to get the silverware needed.

It's like if you threw Dustin Martin in that Geelong side of the 80's and 90's. The end result would not have been much different. Those teams leaked too many goals in rapid succession and in the blink of an eye, a grand final was all but over.

True, but don’t forget that Ablett Jr didn’t play in a final from pretty much the same age that his father was in 1989, till he was well and truly past his own best years.

 

[My Tilly]

True, but don’t forget that Ablett Jr didn’t play in a final from pretty much the same age that his father was in 1989, till he was well and truly past his own best years.

Junior played in finals right up until his 26th birthday.
On the other hand, Senior was 28 before he finally appeared in his first final series.

The greatest blunder for me, was not keeping Greg Williams and Bernard Toohey as we likely would have featured in finals much sooner than the late 1980's.

 

[iameviljez]

The greatest blunder for me, was not keeping Greg Williams and Bernard Toohey as we likely would have featured in finals much sooner than the late 1980's

It is one of the great "coulda been" stories of GFC history, but the club was within a whisker (pun intended) of bankruptcy through the 1980s and 1990s. At the time that we didn't match Williams' demands, the club was, I believe, technically insolvent. Keeping them may have meant the death of the club.

 

[you pick one]

There are not 6 ever better players than senior! I've been watching the Cats since the 50s seen Davis through to the great leader Selwood I've only seen in that time 3 Geelong players I'd go to the footy just to watch in order Senior, Polly and Wade they have been the standout players and entertainers IMHO.

 

[Tex]

Legend No.7: Gary Ablett
http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/legend-no7-gary-ablett/2008/06/29/1214677845426.html

By John Harms

IF YOU ever saw Gary Ablett play you will remember him. And you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. The mention of his name will have you shaking your head.

If you are too young to have seen him play, then I suggest you go to one of those internet sites such as Youtube. From time to time I logon myself, and just a few minutes of highlights make that familiar smile return to my face. That smile you get when you watch him. That Ablett smile.

I'm not sure words can convey what sort of footballer Gary Ablett was. He wasn't conventional. Not a classical player like Bob Skilton. Nor a thinking player like James Hird. Not a routine champion like Wayne Carey. Nor someone whoever sat down to work out how he could make the most of his ability. He just played.

Yet he could do all the conventional things, but in his own way. Even the way the ball came into his possession. Or the way he carried it. Or the way he collapsed his lower body when he realised he was a storey and a half high and had to return to terra firma without ruining his knees and ankles. It all had his own look. The Ablett look.

It is safest to say this: people - a lot of people - went to the footy to see Ablett play. They were drawn to him, beckoned by the promise of a dazzling performance. Even though there were many times when he disappointed them. Because Ablett's genius wasn't always set free. You could never be sure.

Part of his attraction was that he seemed to do everything on natural talent alone. People loved that he wasn't one for training; he just wanted to play footy. That he could be erratic. That he wasn't one for the business or the enterprise of footy. He was somehow outside the system, never on the conveyor belt of the industrial complex that football was becoming, during his time.

No-one doubted his ability. But after a short stint at Hawthorn in 1982 he decided VFL footy wasn't his go. He disappeared up north, before having a year in Myrtleford where his feats beggared belief. Geelong picked him up.
He was 22 during that first Geelong season. He had a mop of sandy hair. When he ran it trailed in the wind like Manikato's mane. He looked to be moving so fast. Because he was. When he set after the footy it seemed no-one could match him for pace.

Even though he played on a wing or a flank in those early days he was the lead character whenever he pulled on the boots. The game was about him and he drew the eye. He was big and strong and not afraid to use his physical power. There was an element of brutality in him. And he managed to strike fear in many of his opponents some of whom were injured when they got in his way.

By the late '80s he was the freak. His talent remained untrimmed by the demands of his club or the competition. He would start on a wing, have a stint in the centre, roam about, go up forward for a while, and kick 14. Especially against Richmond. And then he cemented his place with nine goals in the 1989 grand final against Hawthorn.

People were intrigued by him. He was restless. When he sat out of footy for half a season there was genuine disappointment across the entire footy community. We wanted Ablett.

We wanted to go to the footy or watch on TV with the prospect that he would be flying for marks, kicking 60-metre goals (post high), bursting through packs.

He leapt closer to the heavens than anyone of his era. A pack would form, and suddenly Ablett would appear above it. He could run and fly or he could get his knee on the shoulder of opponent (or teammate) from a standing start. And at the instant the players' jump launched him higher.

Yet he was very human. A man of some complexity. Seemingly lacking peace or serenity.

By the '90s he looked like the players of yore. Like he could have stood with the thugs and urchins of 1920s Collingwood. Like the Colliers he looked old when he was a young man. Like he could win a gurning competition.

This oddly shaped athlete. Balding. Rounded shoulders. A big bum. Massive thighs. Who played with little facial expression, rarely showing emotion even when he had stunned the crowd with his brilliance (again). And kicked 100 goals a year, before his knee gave way. Ablett, considered one of the greats, sadly, faded away.

For me he will always be the greatest, partly because of what we saw, and partly because I suspect he had even more to give. As ridiculous as it sounds I reckon we never saw Gary Ablett at his absolute best.
He was an untamed colt; the rawest brumby. And the most talented.

GARY ABLETT

Born: October 1, 1961
Recruited from: Myrtleford/Drouin/Hawthorn
AFL/VFL debut: 1982, for Hawthorn
Games: 248 (Hawthorn, six games, 1982;Geelong 242 games, 1984-97)
Goals: 1030 (Hawthorn nine, Geelong 1021)
Farewell game: September 8, 1996

Career achievements

Honours: Carji Greeves Medallist 1984 (four-time runner-up); Coleman Medallist 1993, 1994, 1995; All-Australian 1984, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, and 1995 (captain); Norm Smith Medallist, 1989 grand final (with a finals record-equalling nine goals); Leigh Matthews Trophy as AFLPA MVP, 1993; Selection in the AFL Team of the Century; Selection in Geelong's Team of the Century; Australian Football Hall of Fame inductee; voted Geelong's Greatest Player Ever in 2006; 11 games for Victoria (captain in 1995). Captain of Geelong, 1995-1996. Club leading goal-kicker: 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1996. Awarded Mark of the Year in 1985 and 1994. 1994's mark declared Mark of the Century.
Fifth on all-time leading goal-kickers list.
All-time leading goalkicker for Geelong.
Oldest player to kick 100 goals (33 in 1995).

John Harms always had a lovely writing style. I miss his regular articles.

 

[iameviljez]

There are not 6 ever better players than senior! I've been watching the Cats since the 50s seen Davis through to the great leader Selwood I've only seen in that time 3 Geelong players I'd go to the footy just to watch in order Senior, Polly and Wade they have been the standout players and entertainers IMHO.

Which raises the question - who could it have been?

I mean, obviously Lethal, Carey and Coleman would be up there. GAJ now, but not in 2008. Lockett, Bunton perhaps?

 

[you pick one]

Which raises the question - who could it have been?

I mean, obviously Lethal, Carey and Coleman would be up there. GAJ now, but not in 2008. Lockett, Bunton perhaps?

We are exploring rarified air now Carey and Lethal are truely up there Skilton is another.

 

[My Tilly]

We are exploring rarified air now Carey and Lethal are truely up there Skilton is another.

Do you rate Matthews number one?
He could do it all couldn't he?
Consistent big game player. Excellent overhead but alike Ablett Senior, so deadly at ground level so he was always a height mismatch.

It's truly ludicrous to think of what that Hawthorn team could have been. I know Matthews was done by 1985 but just envision he alongside Brereton, Ablett & Buckenara for a few years before Dunstall arrived on the scene.

Even throughout the 1990's, Dunstall, Brereton, Jarman, Ablett . . . unstoppable.

 

[Geelong_Sicko]

John Harms always had a lovely writing style. I miss his regular articles.

Too true. I'm just glad I posted the entire article instead of just an excerpt because the URL link is sadly now dead.

 

[iameviljez]

We are exploring rarified air now Carey and Lethal are truely up there Skilton is another.

True, that. I do think that sometimes we do over-favour players from the mid-60s onwards, that said, typically due to the explosion of goalkicking that came with the introduction of out of bounds on the full + the advent of TV... and the fact that a lot of people who saw earlier players play, are now dead.

There are probably a lot of very good full-forwards from the post-war era, and again after the mid-2000s, who will never really be that highly regarded because they played in an era where it was almost impossible to kick a century.

 

[you pick one]

True, that. I do think that sometimes we do over-favour players from the mid-60s onwards, that said, typically due to the explosion of goalkicking that came with the introduction of out of bounds on the full + the advent of TV... and the fact that a lot of people who saw earlier players play, are now dead.

There are probably a lot of very good full-forwards from the post-war era, and again after the mid-2000s, who will never really be that highly regarded because they played in an era where it was almost impossible to kick a century.

I'd agree and add the game in the 60s was a more kick mark affair with players having more stay at home positional roles than today and only one job to do so we judged Ablett against 11 other F/F and Carey against 11 other CHF in the pub Saturdays night and at work through the week with very few stats and no thought of if they ran both ways.Goals and Marks ruled.

 

[Gazza Greatness]

just shouting doesn't make it true

NOT shouting but regardless whether I was whispering, it's only a matter of opinions at the end of the day of which you will not change yours and I, certainly won't be changing mine. But if you ask SNR he will tell you he was the better player than his sons and if you ask JNR, well he'll say his dad was the better player..... yet we're still only regurgitating opinions, so we'll just leave it at that.

 

[iameviljez]

I'd agree and add the game in the 60s was a more kick mark affair with players having more stay at home positional roles than today and only one job to do so we judged Ablett against 11 other F/F and Carey against 11 other CHF in the pub Saturdays night and at work through the week with very few stats and no thought of if they ran both ways.Goals and Marks ruled.

I can’t help but think that if Hawkins had played in the 80s, he’d have at least four centuries to his name.

 

[iameviljez]

NOT shouting but regardless whether I was whispering, it's only a matter of opinions at the end of the day of which you will not change yours and certainly won't be changing mine. But if you ask SNR he will tell you he was the better player than his sons and if you ask JNR, well he'll say his dad was the better player..... yet we're still only regurgitating opinions, so we'll just leave it at that.

What makes you sure Junior would say that?

 

[Gazza Greatness]

What makes you sure Junior would say that?

He already has told me personally, but regardless it's just opinions but to see Gazza Snr play nearly all his games live and most of JNR's when playing for Cats, it was an absolute pleasure to see them both.

 

[My Tilly]

I'd agree and add the game in the 60s was a more kick mark affair with players having more stay at home positional roles than today and only one job to do so we judged Ablett against 11 other F/F and Carey against 11 other CHF in the pub Saturdays night and at work through the week with very few stats and no thought of if they ran both ways.Goals and Marks ruled.

What separated Ablett & Carey from most was their versatility. Ablett in particular was a typical half forward like we see today. Rotating on the ball and all over the ground.

 

[Vdubs]

What makes you sure Junior would say that?

Because he has said so, frequently, as it is true. Jnr could never be the total package that Snr was as a pure footballer- the vertical leap, the pack marks, the goals from 60m out, on both sides, the bumps, the tackles. Jnr comes close in the goal kicking, and clearly could amass brilliant possessions. But GAS got people going to matches, no matter which team they followed. Freak and a package we will never see again.

 

[iameviljez]

Because he has said so, frequently, as it is true. Jnr could never be the total package that Snr was as a pure footballer- the vertical leap, the pack marks, the goals from 60m out, on both sides, the bumps, the tackles. Jnr comes close in the goal kicking, and clearly could amass brilliant possessions. But GAS got people going to matches, no matter which team they followed. Freak and a package we will never see again.

It's funny you say that, because in many ways I think Sr was the flawed genius, and Jr was the total package as such.

What Sr did well, he did probably better than anyone else. His high marking and leap was the best we've ever seen in football. He was one of the most powerful athletes we've ever seen in the game, up there with Matthews, Dusty and Dangerfield. He was also a massive, massive kick... and bloody dangerous for opponents, literally dangerous.

But he also had bigger achilles heels than Jr. His endurance wasn't great, his kicking - though brilliant at times - could be wayward. His fitting into the bigger team picture was famously bad, and he didn't have the same consistency as Jr (partially due to playing up forward).

Gary Ablett Jr didn't have the same obvious 1-woods that Sr had (though he is the best one-touch player I have seen). But, possibly with the exception of pack marking, he didn't have obvious shortcomings. Pretty much as close to the total package as you get for a short player.

 

[Gazza Greatness]

He already has to me personally

What separated Ablett & Carey from most was their versatility. Ablett in particular was a typical half forward like we see today. Rotating on the ball and all over the ground.

Gary Ablett Snr is the only player in VFL/AFL history to kick 100 goals and win the Coleman Medal in three successive seasons.

He also is the oldest player at 33 years of age to kick a 100 goals in a season which was in 1995. He also kicked the second fastest 100 in VFL/AFL history in the 1993 season when at 31 years of age he kicked 124 goals for that season at an average of 7.3 goals per game.... Gazza Snr missed out by only one week 'to equal the fastest 100 goals ever in a season'..... held by out and out champion Swans full forward Bob Pratt.

Gary Ablett Snr never played a permanent full forward position until he kicked his first 100 in 1993 (124 - 17 games av 7.3 goals per game) at 31 yrs of age, he then kicked another 100 (129 - 25 games av. 5.2 goals per game) in 1994 at 32 years of age, then another 100 (122 - 22 games av 5.5 goals per game) in 1995 at 33 years of age.

Gary Ablett Snr also holds the record for the 'most goals ever kicked in a finals series' which is 27 goals in 1989 final series. In that outstanding finals series he kicked 3 goals against Essendon in the Qualifying Final, then 7 goals against Melbourne in the first Semi-Final, then 8 goals in the Preliminary against Essendon and 9 goals in the memorable and classic 1989 Grand Final against Hawthorn, totalling 27 goals which is the VFL/AFL record. In that 1989 finals series, if for nothing else, is what separates Gary Ablett Snr from any other player that has played the game, for it was at a 'super-human level' that had never been seen before or is unlikely to ever to be seen into the future.

In conclusion: Gary Ablett Snr was a 'freak footballer' and easily the best footballer I've ever seen play the game. He was that good, he also had a champion son, Gary Ablett Jnr of which there is no argument that Gary Snr, along with his son Gary Jnr, are the best father and son combination to have ever played AFL/VFL football.

Gary Ablett Snr - The Best From the Best (but there are many, many more)

​

 

[Seeds]

Legend No.7: Gary Ablett
http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/legend-no7-gary-ablett/2008/06/29/1214677845426.html

By John Harms

IF YOU ever saw Gary Ablett play you will remember him. And you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. The mention of his name will have you shaking your head.

If you are too young to have seen him play, then I suggest you go to one of those internet sites such as Youtube. From time to time I logon myself, and just a few minutes of highlights make that familiar smile return to my face. That smile you get when you watch him. That Ablett smile.

I'm not sure words can convey what sort of footballer Gary Ablett was. He wasn't conventional. Not a classical player like Bob Skilton. Nor a thinking player like James Hird. Not a routine champion like Wayne Carey. Nor someone whoever sat down to work out how he could make the most of his ability. He just played.

Yet he could do all the conventional things, but in his own way. Even the way the ball came into his possession. Or the way he carried it. Or the way he collapsed his lower body when he realised he was a storey and a half high and had to return to terra firma without ruining his knees and ankles. It all had his own look. The Ablett look.

It is safest to say this: people - a lot of people - went to the footy to see Ablett play. They were drawn to him, beckoned by the promise of a dazzling performance. Even though there were many times when he disappointed them. Because Ablett's genius wasn't always set free. You could never be sure.

Part of his attraction was that he seemed to do everything on natural talent alone. People loved that he wasn't one for training; he just wanted to play footy. That he could be erratic. That he wasn't one for the business or the enterprise of footy. He was somehow outside the system, never on the conveyor belt of the industrial complex that football was becoming, during his time.

No-one doubted his ability. But after a short stint at Hawthorn in 1982 he decided VFL footy wasn't his go. He disappeared up north, before having a year in Myrtleford where his feats beggared belief. Geelong picked him up.
He was 22 during that first Geelong season. He had a mop of sandy hair. When he ran it trailed in the wind like Manikato's mane. He looked to be moving so fast. Because he was. When he set after the footy it seemed no-one could match him for pace.

Even though he played on a wing or a flank in those early days he was the lead character whenever he pulled on the boots. The game was about him and he drew the eye. He was big and strong and not afraid to use his physical power. There was an element of brutality in him. And he managed to strike fear in many of his opponents some of whom were injured when they got in his way.

By the late '80s he was the freak. His talent remained untrimmed by the demands of his club or the competition. He would start on a wing, have a stint in the centre, roam about, go up forward for a while, and kick 14. Especially against Richmond. And then he cemented his place with nine goals in the 1989 grand final against Hawthorn.

People were intrigued by him. He was restless. When he sat out of footy for half a season there was genuine disappointment across the entire footy community. We wanted Ablett.

We wanted to go to the footy or watch on TV with the prospect that he would be flying for marks, kicking 60-metre goals (post high), bursting through packs.

He leapt closer to the heavens than anyone of his era. A pack would form, and suddenly Ablett would appear above it. He could run and fly or he could get his knee on the shoulder of opponent (or teammate) from a standing start. And at the instant the players' jump launched him higher.

Yet he was very human. A man of some complexity. Seemingly lacking peace or serenity.

By the '90s he looked like the players of yore. Like he could have stood with the thugs and urchins of 1920s Collingwood. Like the Colliers he looked old when he was a young man. Like he could win a gurning competition.

This oddly shaped athlete. Balding. Rounded shoulders. A big bum. Massive thighs. Who played with little facial expression, rarely showing emotion even when he had stunned the crowd with his brilliance (again). And kicked 100 goals a year, before his knee gave way. Ablett, considered one of the greats, sadly, faded away.

For me he will always be the greatest, partly because of what we saw, and partly because I suspect he had even more to give. As ridiculous as it sounds I reckon we never saw Gary Ablett at his absolute best.
He was an untamed colt; the rawest brumby. And the most talented.

GARY ABLETT

Born: October 1, 1961
Recruited from: Myrtleford/Drouin/Hawthorn
AFL/VFL debut: 1982, for Hawthorn
Games: 248 (Hawthorn, six games, 1982;Geelong 242 games, 1984-97)
Goals: 1030 (Hawthorn nine, Geelong 1021)
Farewell game: September 8, 1996

Career achievements

Honours: Carji Greeves Medallist 1984 (four-time runner-up); Coleman Medallist 1993, 1994, 1995; All-Australian 1984, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, and 1995 (captain); Norm Smith Medallist, 1989 grand final (with a finals record-equalling nine goals); Leigh Matthews Trophy as AFLPA MVP, 1993; Selection in the AFL Team of the Century; Selection in Geelong's Team of the Century; Australian Football Hall of Fame inductee; voted Geelong's Greatest Player Ever in 2006; 11 games for Victoria (captain in 1995). Captain of Geelong, 1995-1996. Club leading goal-kicker: 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1996. Awarded Mark of the Year in 1985 and 1994. 1994's mark declared Mark of the Century.
Fifth on all-time leading goal-kickers list.
All-time leading goalkicker for Geelong.
Oldest player to kick 100 goals (33 in 1995).

Disagree with the non thinking bit. Was a very smart footballer. Just not so smart outside the game.

 

[Partridge]

Which raises the question - who could it have been?

I mean, obviously Lethal, Carey and Coleman would be up there. GAJ now, but not in 2008. Lockett, Bunton perhaps?

I'm going with another 6 in the same bracket, so I'll go along the lines of:

• Bunton
• Coleman
• Whitten
• Skilton
• Matthews
• Carey

I'd have Farmer, Reynolds, Baldock, and Lockett extremely close as well. For more recent players Ablett junior and Williams are the pick to me.

 

[iameviljez]

I'm going with another 6 in the same bracket, so I'll go along the lines of:

• Bunton
• Coleman
• Whitten
• Skilton
• Matthews
• Carey

I'd have Farmer, Reynolds, Baldock, and Lockett extremely close as well. For more recent players Ablett junior and Williams are the pick to me.

We forgot Barrassi