Opinion Gary Ablett Senior

[yogogorilla41]

Watching his highlights gave me goose bumps.

I actually strongly believe today's football he would kick more goals, than he did in his era. Athletic, d
Fast, strong, and an absolutely ripping kick for goal. Makes buddy, Rooey and Twavis look like chumps! Brilliance oozed out of him. This guy kicked them from 70 Metres out, those guys listed struggle from inside 40!

 

[GeelongFTW]

Inb4 father vs son comparisons.

 

[manboob]

Inb4 father vs son comparisons.

There is none to be had.

 

[Whit3y]

snr is, was and always will be the greatest

 

[THE CAT WRANGLER]

Awesome footage

 

[exile]

gary ablett snr was a bit before my time, but seeing his highlights on footy flashbacks today makes me reconsider my thinking that gary ablett jnr is the greatest of the two. he looked bloody unstoppable!!

i guess any highlights package would make anyone look that good (mum suggested jared brennan's highlight reel would be just as good, yeah righto! ), but it was great to see him in action!

 

[manboob]

gary ablett snr was a bit before my time, but seeing his highlights on footy flashbacks today makes me reconsider my thinking that gary ablett jnr is the greatest of the two. he looked bloody unstoppable!!

Correct and your mum is wrong.

 

[yogogorilla41]

Insiteful view your mum has, I suppose she also thinks Nick Maxwell is a good player because he is a premiership captain

You don't see lethal's highlights packages shown like that do you know!!

 

[Vdubs]

It was sensational watching his goals from outside 50 or 60 on BOTH FEET, his crashing pack marks, his tackles, his sheer speed and momentum. There has never been a better all round package.
Junior is nearly as good though. Bizarre concept.

 

[Shell]

it.

And JUST realised it was on at about 1pm, so timing!!!!

Was an awesome show, loved Stoneham and especially Couchy, with some good insight into Gary Snr. He is a bit of a strange one.. guess geniuses are like that.

The Geelong v Essendon 93 highlight were especially special to me, cause that was my first ever game of footy.

 

[FredLeDeux]

It was sensational watching his goals from outside 50 or 60 on BOTH FEET, his crashing pack marks, his tackles, his sheer speed and momentum. There has never been a better all round package.
Junior is nearly as good though. Bizarre concept.

That was it, how many wrong foot 50 metre snaps!
They didn't show many of his crashing demolitions of players.
I think it was you Veedubs who pointed out that he was the same size and weight as Josh Hunt.
But, of course, he was 3 or 4 yards faster and much meaner, so you people who never saw him can just imagine how much damage he used to do!

 

[Shell]

Lol, see that one bump they showed? Jumping right off the ground, pretty much an elbow to the head.


Would get about 457 weeks for that now!

 

[Shell]

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Couchy and Stoneham, felt sorry for Bazza, he was such a warrior and really wished he had a premiership after so many years of putting his body on the line but it just was never meant to be.
We came up against champion sides on all four occasions, teams which had ridiculous depth across every line.

Him and Paul Lynch were completely ****ed over by injury.

Dam shame.

 

[FredLeDeux]

Lol, see that one bump they showed? Jumping right off the ground, pretty much an elbow to the head.


Would get about 457 weeks for that now!

I posted this on an earlier thread

Cleaned Up By Gazza (many of whom couldn't play the next week)

More than a few of these weren't just hip and shoulders. Some were reports and a lot of blokes were just belted.

B: Peter Czerkaski (Rich), Danny Frawley (StK), John Gastev (Bris)

HB: Don Pyke (WC), Mick Gayfer (Coll), Peter Dean (Carl)

C: Robert Dipierdomenico (Haw), Wayne Johnson (Carl), Dean McRae (Syd)

HF: Peter Daicos (Coll), Karl Langdon (WC), Rohan Smith (Foot)

F: Brent Heaver (Carl), Garry Lyon (Melb), Dale Weightman (Rich)

R: Alex Ischenko (WC), Tim Watson (Ess), Garry Wilson (Fitz)

I/C from: Kristian Bardsley (StK), Greg Epplestun (NM), A Bennett (Haw), Richard Osborne (Fitz), Gary Pert (Coll), Peter Foster (Foots), Mark Bairstow (WA), Mick Martyn (NM), Nathan Burke (StK), Mitchell White (WC), Michael McKenna (Foot), Gary Ayres (Haw), Jim Jess (Rich), Steven Wallis (Foot), Ben Hart (Adel)

I remember one of those old Hun Player polls where all the other players voted him the Hardest Hitter in the League. It looks like he had 30 odd votes' start on anybody else.

 

[Shell]

LOL.

twas a different game back then wasnt it Fred?

 

[Shell]

Oh so glad he cleaned up Karl Langdon. What an annoying dick.

LMAO- how did he take out Bairstow?!?! Wtf?!?!

 

[FredLeDeux]

Certainly was a different game, and Gazza was himself responsible for some of the definitions of "charges" and "unduly rough play, but I have to laugh at people who say Matthews was "just a thug" when they compare him and Gazza.

 

[Shell]

I actually only saw 4 seasons (the 96 wasnt great either) of Gary Ablett. Obviously the ones at FF.

So weird, seems like I got to see so much more of his career, but no, started going to the footy in 93.

Was the best.

 

[yogogorilla41]

Went to the '93 essendon game as well, i was absolutely in awe of both guys that day. Simply breath taking. I remember going to see him one day at Kardinia Park when it was BELTING down... He kicked 6 or 7 and had it on a string. Went and seen him after the game in the rooms, got his signature, dont think i got a word out. I think i looked at that signature all the way home.
Also remember him playing i think his last game against Richmond 2nd's... Or just about injured and never saw him again. Could be wrong on that.

 

[kearnivorous]

I posted this on an earlier thread

Cleaned Up By Gazza (many of whom couldn't play the next week)

More than a few of these weren't just hip and shoulders. Some were reports and a lot of blokes were just belted.

B: Peter Czerkaski (Rich), Danny Frawley (StK), John Gastev (Bris)

HB: Don Pyke (WC), Mick Gayfer (Coll), Peter Dean (Carl)

C: Robert Dipierdomenico (Haw), Wayne Johnson (Carl), Dean McRae (Syd)

HF: Peter Daicos (Coll), Karl Langdon (WC), Rohan Smith (Foot)

F: Brent Heaver (Carl), Garry Lyon (Melb), Dale Weightman (Rich)

R: Alex Ischenko (WC), Tim Watson (Ess), Garry Wilson (Fitz)

I/C from: Kristian Bardsley (StK), Greg Epplestun (NM), A Bennett (Haw), Richard Osborne (Fitz), Gary Pert (Coll), Peter Foster (Foots), Mark Bairstow (WA), Mick Martyn (NM), Nathan Burke (StK), Mitchell White (WC), Michael McKenna (Foot), Gary Ayres (Haw), Jim Jess (Rich), Steven Wallis (Foot), Ben Hart (Adel)

I remember one of those old Hun Player polls where all the other players voted him the Hardest Hitter in the League. It looks like he had 30 odd votes' start on anybody else.

This needs to get more accolades than any other team of the century. Although considering how hard he hit Gastev I'm surprised he doesn't pop up in every position on the field

 

[Partridge]

Went to the '93 essendon game as well, i was absolutely in awe of both guys that day. Simply breath taking. I remember going to see him one day at Kardinia Park when it was BELTING down... He kicked 6 or 7 and had it on a string. Went and seen him after the game in the rooms, got his signature, dont think i got a word out. I think i looked at that signature all the way home.
Also remember him playing i think his last game against Richmond 2nd's... Or just about injured and never saw him again. Could be wrong on that.

You aren't. Round 1, 1997. Played in the VFL and kicked 7 because Ayres thought he wasn't fit enough. Injured his knee and took a few months until he realised it need surgery. That was it.

 

[Commando]

I actually only saw 4 seasons (the 96 wasnt great either) of Gary Ablett. Obviously the ones at FF.

So weird, seems like I got to see so much more of his career, but no, started going to the footy in 93.

Was the best.

IIRC he kicked about 70 in 96? Probably win a Coleman this season...

I noticed two things in today's highlights - first was the penetration in his kicking, he would clear the fence from outside 50m, these days they are just clearing the line.

Secondly the snap shots which are regulation now were extremely unorthodox then and he made it look so easy, a champion player in any generation.

I agree with the previous post, was and will always be the greatest!

 

[Strangled Cat]

I'll never forget 93 against the Hawks when he did a demolition job on them in the last quarter at KP. I was standing at the city end and just remeber the crowd erupting. That was my first game of AFL that I went to and as a young fella struggling to see over other adults, I still saw enough to know that Gaz was something special (not that I didn't know that already as I'd been watching him on TV since the 89 GF).

 

[joe444]

I think a consensus has been reached - at least in Geelong fans' minds - that he isn't the best player we ever had. Too many games when he was distracted, too many suspensions etc. In terms of attitude, he ain't no Paul Chapman. I guess Ablett snr squandered - or at least chose to show - his genius in the way most savants do.

But is and was he capable of things nobody else could do on the football field? Absolutely. Any comparison is embarrassing. It's a privilege to be old enough to have watched his whole career, from the days when he was on the wing to the naive attempt to win a flag with him as a full-forward.

Favourite memory? He won a game single-handedly in the early 90s against St Kilda at KP. No TV coverage, but I believe it was 5 goals in the last quarter.

For those who only know him via youtube clips, keep in mind that TV only covered the good teams back then, and there were years (84 - 88 especially) where we just weren't on. In that respect, he's the inverse of 'Friday Night' Wayne Carey, whose every sniffle was exaggerated by Bruce and co.

 

[FredLeDeux]

I think a consensus has been reached - at least in Geelong fans' minds - that he isn't the best player we ever had. Too many games when he was distracted, too many suspensions etc. In terms of attitude, he ain't no Paul Chapman. I guess Ablett snr squandered - or at least chose to show - his genius in the way most savants do.

But is and was he capable of things nobody else could do on the football field? Absolutely. Any comparison is embarrassing. It's a privilege to be old enough to have watched his whole career, from the days when he was on the wing to the naive attempt to win a flag with him as a full-forward.

Favourite memory? He won a game single-handedly in the early 90s against St Kilda at KP. No TV coverage, but I believe it was 5 goals in the last quarter.

For those who only know him via youtube clips, keep in mind that TV only covered the good teams back then, and there were years (84 - 88 especially) where we just weren't on. In that respect, he's the inverse of 'Friday Night' Wayne Carey, whose every sniffle was exaggerated by Bruce and co.

I think you'll find you're wrong there, whenever the issue is raised on here he generally comes out ahead of Farmer, his only serious competitor for us.