Gary Ablett.....

[skipper kelly]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

But in the OP the guy acknowledged that Ablett gets heaps of hard ball.

I think you should read it before you post.

And anyway you cant deny he gets shitloads of easy ball. Have alook at the leaderboard for uncontested possesions.

What part of the king of the easy ball implication do you not understand. He had 19 contested possessions last night. 50% of his possessions were contested. Really sounds like he doesnt get his hands dirty.

To suggest that this players give and go tactic is based on getting stats is purely moronic. To give he must first get. Last night he got it 19 times. It is masterful football using a team mate to block and create space for him. Almost becomes untaggable. Given the fact that the umpires are cracking down on players held after they get rid of the ball, this tactic is brilliant given how quick his hands are. A methodology very simlar to decoy running in RL.

Im sorry but from a purely 'neutral' perspective I cannot see how people dont just watch and marvel at his brilliance.

 

[jazz]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

When you're good you draw the ball.

 

[Leather Poisoning]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

Ablett is no stats whore.

He gets a lot of 1-2 handballs but that's the gameplan he has to work to. Geelong seem to be very conscious of being tackled, and seem to develop a gameplan around the idea that if the ball is in constant motion (i.e. no single player holds onto it for too long) then the opposition don't know who to tackle. Works really well for them.

Ablett's fitness and footy brain get him to a hell of a lot of contests, and as such he'll follow the game plan and dish the ball off as soon as he gets it. He also receives it this way a lot. Add to this that the side values his disposal a hell of a lot so will often look for him.

So I have no problem with Ablett and wouldn't call him a stats whore in the sense of him knocking up stats for the sake of his own image.

What I've got a problem with is the dick heads that go "OH MY GOD ABLETT GOT 40 TOUCHES, BEST GAME EVER, AWESOME, BROWNLOW IN THE BAG, RECORD DISPOSALS" etc.

Some games he sets up a SHITload of goals and kicks a few himself. Some games he doesn't manage to be as influential, yet his stats tend to be pretty similar in these two scenarios.

 

[thehoff]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

Check the Hard Ball gets and contested possessions from last nights game and shut your trap.

 

[Duskfire]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

It does annoy me that there seems to be a focus on his "easy possessions." How many times a game does Ablett literally steal a ball of an opponent or out of a pack and just run a circle around someone else before continuing on his merry way.

Yes he gets easy possessions, but really, who doesn't? In this day and age players will often have vast numbers of uncontested possessions. It doesnt mean they are crap players or cowardly or any of that; it just means they are following a teams gameplan.

People sometimes act as if Ablett is the only player in the competition to recieve uncontested possessions.

 

[Undecide]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

He is easily the most overated player in the afl

 

[Cohzee]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

BigFooty is getting beyond a joke.

 

[CatFan79]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

Ablett is not the best player in the AFL because of the number of touches he gets..

Take note of how many contested possessions Ablett wins, he is pure quality with disposals and consistently brings his team mates into the game by drawing opponents.

Jealous trolls get a life..

 

[danzan22]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

Let other players touch the leather, bring them into the game.

 

[cradle of filth]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

I have to agree with the OP and coming from a Hawthorn supporter I'm sure most will skim past this post, but i honestly find Jimmy Bartel and Joel Selwood to be much more damaging in there disposal.

Don't get me wrong because i think he in the top 5 midfielders in the AFL, but i do agree that he gets allot of ultimately meaningless handballs that enhance his stats and probably his status.

Having said all that though, he is certainly not the only player that does this.

 

[Thommo 42]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

He runs hard to win the footy.

If its an easy footy or a loose ball, or a handball recieve - sweet for Gablett!

If its a contested footy or a contest, he will still run hard, still win the contest and still get the ball. Not so sweet for Gablett!

Either way, he gets the ball alot - he gets it because he is prepared to run hard and he reads the play beautifully. His teammates are prepared to give it to him, because they know he will run hard and will use it effectively.

Geelong play a high posession game, which aids his statistics - but he is not a stat whore, Geelong are just ball hogs!

 

[maryjames]

Re: Stats and Gazza.

He runs hard to win the footy.

If its an easy footy or a loose ball, or a handball recieve - sweet for Gablett!

If its a contested footy or a contest, he will still run hard, still win the contest and still get the ball. Not so sweet for Gablett!

Either way, he gets the ball alot - he gets it because he is prepared to run hard and he reads the play beautifully. His teammates are prepared to give it to him, because they know he will run hard and will use it effectively.

Geelong play a high posession game, which aids his statistics - but he is not a stat whore, Geelong are just ball hogs!

well said .

 

[PIEd]

Ok, gonna get slammed.... so i'm bracing for it.... but ablett gets more cheap posessions than any player i have ever seen!! 40 possies is easy when u are "one twoing" with a guy in the defensive 50 with no-one around! Joel Bowden did that for years! ok, lets go on record to say that HE IS THE BEST PLAYER IN THE LEAGUE, but soooo many cheap handballs.

 

[Laser123]

I thought it was getting too popular to knock Ablett over the past few weeks so haven't said anything but tonight he had the least impact with 40 posessions in a game I've ever seen.

This seems to be a regular occurrence of late

 

[jeemak]

40 touches ain't what they used to be. Dane Swan would tell you that.

Can you imagine how many touches Greg Williams would get these days (even though it's a moot point, he would probably get overlooked by the junior system now anyway)?

 

[raff23]

Ok, gonna get slammed.... so i'm bracing for it.... but ablett gets more cheap posessions than any player i have ever seen!! 40 possies is easy when u are "one twoing" with a guy in the defensive 50 with no-one around! Joel Bowden did that for years! ok, lets go on record to say that HE IS THE BEST PLAYER IN THE LEAGUE, but soooo many cheap handballs.

Your spot on mate , plenty of people think exactly that except for of course the media and the cat supporters. The cheapest 40 possesion game i have ever seen nearly. The media will come out and say "oh his got another 40 stats here is more brownlow votes...", u gotta actually wonder if they watch the game and see where and what he is doing with the ball instead of looking at how many he has had at the end of the game.

 

[SM]

Agreed, so many handballs off to a player, gets it back, handballs off again, gets it back, and kicks it, in the space of five metres. He is an amazing player at getting out of traffic, beyond that he's nothing special.

 

[winty]

I thought it was getting too popular to knock Ablett over the past few weeks so haven't said anything but tonight he had the least impact with 40 posessions in a game I've ever seen.

This seems to be a regular occurrence of late

40 touches, 5 inside 50's, 2 goal assists, but you're right, he had no impact. Never mind the fact he had 17 touches in the first half, but 13 in the 3rd term when Geelong made their run at the Doggies.

 

[richskee]

Ok, gonna get slammed.... so i'm bracing for it.... but ablett gets more cheap posessions than any player i have ever seen!! 40 possies is easy when u are "one twoing" with a guy in the defensive 50 with no-one around! Joel Bowden did that for years! ok, lets go on record to say that HE IS THE BEST PLAYER IN THE LEAGUE, but soooo many cheap handballs.

They might look cheap but he has the best hands in the game. No player in the league can dispose of the ball by hand at his pace. He sets up every clearance with his hands.

You said you braced for it so, YOUR A NOOB!

 

[ChipDouglas]

Well he only got me another 250 points in my dreamteam prelim so I have no complaints, I love little Gazza!!!

 

[Burzum]

*cough* Dane Swan.

 

[Patronus]

Why do you care?

If you think Ablett does nothing with his posessions it should not worry you how many times he gets the ball in a game.

 

[absy]

Although swan has so many goal assists and scoring chains.... oh wait hes not damaging. Especially when he has over 100 more kicks then both Ablett and Judd. Hes useless!

 

[SirJimi05]

40 touches, 5 inside 50's, 2 goal assists, but you're right, he had no impact. Never mind the fact he had 17 touches in the first half, but 13 in the 3rd term when Geelong made their run at the Doggies.

Where on earth did he state that Gazza never had any impact?

 

[johncitizen]

Didn't look very effective tonight, most of his handballs put his teammates under extreme pressure. A couple of magic things as you would expect but nothing special.