Tonight Gazza played his 332nd AFL game. This puts him equal with Corey Enright on amount of AFL games played. Unfortunately it won't put him in the Geelong record books but hopefully by the end of the year he will make it into the top 20 for AFL games played.
Games milestone for Gazza.
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He has now played 30 games in the "4" era ... he is coming up to the mark id have said was the mark was the threshold before he returned.
At the moment.. he would be a good bet to get another year and play another 18 that it would take him to 350 ... Thats getting into rare air
At the moment.. he would be a good bet to get another year and play another 18 that it would take him to 350 ... Thats getting into rare air
dazbroncos
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He has to be a Monty for another one year deal should he want it.
And yes.. the 350 based on current form and fitness is well doable. 400 and the Tuck air is beyond him. ..... I think....lol
GO Catters
Still hurts a little. Could have been a true legend of our club, not just the game. 3/4/5 times premiership player, maybe a norm smith in there, who knows how many Brownlows (maybe one more?). Legend of the game, but could have been an absolute legend of the club...
Don't disagree, really. But it's all spilt milk now.
I'm simply enjoying seeing him back where he belongs, bringing the best that he can muster, and playing a vital role in this team's quest for ultimate glory.
And surely nobody feels worse about what has been missed along the way than the man himself.
So letting go of the regrets about how we got here is the only liberating way to fully embrace where we are going to now.
Just keep bringing it. Gaz. Quite amazingly, the highlights reel in the hoops is still growing week by week.
This play was sublime: https://m.afl.com.au/video/2019-06-07/ablett-and-danger-dream-team-at-work
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"Could have been" a legend of the club? Could have been?
In what possible universe is he not a club legend anyway?
It's hard to predict. He's in better form than he was in his last few years at Gold Coast, and playing some exceptional footy. The skills haven't dropped off, and he does not need to be super quick, but we all know the end can come pretty suddenly. If he retired at the end of 2020 I wouldn't be surprised- but neither would I be surprised if he was still chugging along in 2022.
So you missed the word true. Yep, legend of the club. But he could have been in rarefied air. Only rivalled by one (that I have seen). But he is a rung below, because he left. Not his fault - AFL creates the situation and almost (almost) made him Leave. Sorry, but that now leaves him in the conversation with others, whereas if he’d played his career at the cats, we’d not only be talking about him as the greatest cat, but the GOAT. Make sense now?
I can feel your post , it resonates passion for the club but I feel a lot of his story is about the way the scene is painted. The way and what he has done is interpreted and represented , and there will alway be those who choose to boo rather than whooo. And not just ones on here .. I wish could remember who it was but I remember one commentator making the strong statement after his return trade to geelong saying it would be the demise of geelong. If the media really wanted to ..they could be far more giving in what he tried to do when going to GoldCoast.. of course he went for money etc. but there is always big money for all players in real terms. The chance to define his own story must have played a part.
Go back to the start. The Ablett name held such attention that even when he was a Falcons with a mop of blonde hair he plenty of non earned attention. Him agreeing to come Geelong was a treat for many but im sure it brought on its own set of pressures. Plenty like Bradmans son never want to go near their fathers place sporting performance. but he did and eventually playing so well that he made people stop saying junior and started call GA5 sr. Even then one could see that he wanted to stamp his own mark to a degree.. not wanting the 5 but choosing Kenny Hinkley number. I think a guy who he remembered favouably from when he was a kid in the rooms.
Still after 9 years I feel a chance to do something that he would never have had a chance at geelong must have been attractive. New fresh start it set it up be a leader be supported by other top players.. Im sure they had very high hopes for that franchise , probably unrealistic hopes and the easier way to go for GA , probably the one Id have chosen would have been to stay with the finals attending side for less money instead of taking the game into a foreign environment, a place with facilities which were far below AFL standard etc. when he knew was probably going to play his best footy in a losing side for a fair chunk of the next 4-5 years.
I think back to when I first started on BF , one of the first posts I was happy with on here was one defending him from non geelong supporters saying he was overrated.. He has written a different template than what you have described for sure. What he could have been in our eyes , what we would have perhaps liked him to be..but I wonder do we truely understand the full range of inputs and the way he has handled them. Im positive that he observed influences when he was growing up and one was to make money while you are in the game cause it doesn't last etc. So up he went on huge dollars ..and although he was promised that by year 5 of his contract that the club would be flying , and that he would have plenty of others to support him.. in the end it all was just valours in the sun up there , it did not eventuate.
At some stage , perhaps after he hurt his shoulder that different type of mortality materialised for him. One where he wanted to play again at place and in side that continues to give its players more wins than losses, plays in big games, that plays Fri nights o the big stage... that before it was all done , he would like to taste something that he had not since he left.. success and finals.. and a chance to play where results are the focus , not promotion Yes he was banged up , but he felt he might just have something to offer still. One last flicker before the candle went out
So he comes back and one could see that bit by bit he seemed to be getting back to some sort of fitness , a fitness he had hadn't felt in a while and after a little bit refinement of role by his second year he is playing pretty good footy by most peoples standards. In fact very good footy. He still has that innate goal sense that always seemed was something that is difficult to teach , more seems more inherited than learnt. And although the story is not the story of longevity and purity and untainted loyalty in one set of colours , with one number on his back , perhap like the number change it symbolises the stages he has gone thru. The three stages of personal deportment , the start , the middle and the end.
How long will the end last , how many curtain calls will we be able to glory in his talent.? Not sure but like glow of the sun after a beautiful day , one can bask in it .. we know it will end but one still can enjoy the warmth it can bring. One look at the face of Danger the other other night , after the handpass, there is an empty spot in a few of these guys and each time GA does something like that it ingratiates him even more wiithin the group.
GA has two Flags ...and while 4 or 5 is stretching it .. if he and we could add another to not just his catolouge of credits but to others at the club there will be plenty of smiles that about what we have enoyed.. who knows whether a Normy is probable as its always in the eye of the voters , and biases on type of player always plays a part. Id have had Scarlett in 07 , Taylor or Rooke in 09 and SJ in 11 so its always opinion. One can hope , to make his return a full circle and taste that final success once more ..id say there would be no doubt that we would be the defined as a true legend of our club.
What play, Ablett still has sufficient speed and nous and skills. They and that passage of play are what make our great game great.
