Opinion Is Ablett a traitor?

[David the Cat]

Thompson made a mess of his departure too, and no doubt lost a lot of respect from all concerned by his actions. I don't really care about that though, since I've always been pretty ambivalent about Thompson as Geelong's coach, and I don't think his leaving is a bad thing at all. He will not be missed. Ablett on the other hand, his on-field presence WILL be missed, his name being synonymous with a team OTHER than Geelong will be missed, and the interest and aura he gave the club will be missed.

That's why the way he went about leaving leaves such a rotten taste, not because he chose to leave - I've said several times that he can be where he wants - but because he has been nothing but dishonest about his intentions and your belief in his PR machine that he genuinely didn't know he was leaving until the last minute beggars belief. GC HAD to know he was onboard from the outset, otherwise their financial structuring for player payments and ability to chase and (not) contract the other tier-1 players of the competition would have been completely thrown into disarray. GC were smug as shit about player signings all season, because they (and the AFL) knew exactly who was coming, and when to announce their acquisitions. We can deduce this because of the leaked (and mysteriously retracted) exclusive news from Fox Sports, who were obviously running to a schedule given to them by the AFL that was dropped into the toilet by the drawn Grand Final last year. They then proceeded to announce it anyway on the 29th, since the "cat was out of the bag". It would seem that the only people (other than those who are in denial about the whole mess) that didn't know Ablett was leaving was Geelong itself, although given Frank's ability to play the media to his own tune he may have just ordered everyone to play dumb too.

Then you get Demetriou playing the Sgt. Schultz role to a tee with the "IIII KNOWWW NUSSSINK (wink wink)" routine in relation to Ablett's salary, by misleading everyone about the nature of his contract. The media en masse reported that he denied knowledge of the size of Ablett's contract, when in reality he commented on the way Ablett was being paid, when he refuted the idea that Ablett was being paid his 10 mil upfront, not that he was being paid 10 mil.

If there was someone actually governing the AFL, it would be exposed as a huge grubby puppetmaster organisation that is systematically putting the game second and the money first. Ablett's departure is an example of it, and Ablett's actions scream of complicity.

I was going to throw in my tuppence worth, but why bother when a comprehensive and accurate summary is already written. Excellent post LSV.

The line that Ablett only made up his mind after the season is laughable, and frankly insulting to the supporters of the GFC. A great player, but a duplicitous individual I'm afraid.

 

[Catman]

LSV, brilliant, brilliant post.

 

[meto]

Gaz jnr was a Geelong great like his dad, Bomba was a fork tongued little fraud.

 

[bobbycatsfanme]

is it wrong to be praying for Ablett jnr to do a serious knee injury or similar for 2011?

Gary has achieved almost everything he could with us but I just get depressed knowing he is now gone and will no longer make important contributions in those very important games that we needed him to do for us when the club really needed him more than ever before. I know that Gold Coast will take sometime to finally be a strong and competitve side but seriously what success apart from a brownlow or two can he possibly have signed for other than more premierships which his chances of winning with Geelong @ $8.00 as opposed to $81 with Gold Coast would have been far more conceivable

Here's to Mooney lining him up and knocking him out sensless when they meet in round 10

 

[maxy87]

is it wrong to be praying for Ablett jnr to do a serious knee injury or similar for 2011?

Gary has achieved almost everything he could with us but I just get depressed knowing he is now gone and will no longer make important contributions in those very important games that we needed him to do for us when the club really needed him more than ever before. I know that Gold Coast will take sometime to finally be a strong and competitve side but seriously what success apart from a brownlow or two can he possibly have signed for other than more premierships which his chances of winning with Geelong @ $8.00 as opposed to $81 with Gold Coast would have been far more conceivable

Here's to Mooney lining him up and knocking him out sensless when they meet in round 10

For me, wishing misfortune upon someone makes you the worser person in all this. That said, I certainly don't wish him well though...

A few weeks ago my brother said to me: "mate, just get over it. It's finished. He's gone. He's at a shitty makeshift club in the middle of NRL heartland, nobody knows who the f*** he is, nobody cares and he's captaining a bunch of kids that will get mauled. He's made the choice at he has to live with it.. One day he'll regret this decision when he realized what he walked away from"

That, I think is enough without wishing he dis his knee or something

 

[darren forssman]

Gaz jnr was a Geelong great like his dad, Bomba was a fork tongued little fraud.

cmon meto, lets not sugar coat this.

both were fraudulent and as bad as each other.

 

[maxy87]

And about the "chicken or the egg" statement, so you think if we'd found out Thompson was talking to Essendon it would be alright for the playing list to not talk to there coach for the last 20 weeks of the year?

Well judging by the way we played the second half of the year, the lack of interest and the poor selection decisions, not to mention blaming the playing group for not "buying into a new gameplan", I think that's exactly what happened to some extent

 

[Vdubs]

LSV, even if I didn't want to agree with you, that was award winning writing, brilliant and passionate.

 

[bobbycatsfanme]

For me, wishing misfortune upon someone makes you the worser person in all this. That said, I certainly don't wish him well though...

A few weeks ago my brother said to me: "mate, just get over it. It's finished. He's gone. He's at a shitty makeshift club in the middle of NRL heartland, nobody knows who the f*** he is, nobody cares and he's captaining a bunch of kids that will get mauled. He's made the choice at he has to live with it.. One day he'll regret this decision when he realized what he walked away from"

That, I think is enough without wishing he dis his knee or something

good point mate and agree, I truly hope his decision to leave his 'once were brothers' will help to inspire the Cats in 2011 and beyond.
Just can't understand NRL fans to be honest because I have tried over the past year to really get into the NRL but the game is too one dimensional and really holds back the athletes themselves. Folau and Hunt look like they going to pave the way for a new generation of rugby players changing codes and that's truly exciting for us AFL fans because let's face it, we have always known this game is greatest show on earth and once they see Folau flying high for those marks and busting packs....give it 20 years and AFL will be almost even in those Sydney and Queensland areas which are rugby orientated And the name Ablett will one day be known in the same vain as Johns.


Darren I think fraudulent is a pretty harsh word to describe the Ablett's because snr really did alot of charity support work and I was fortunate enough to meet the guy on numerous occassions and was just an absolute top bloke very kind and gave you his time as long as there weren't any camera or journos around. His overall benefit to football and the community is forever changed because of his work on and off the field. Gary jnr would likely be similar although never met him myself but he does do alot of work with the community but of course more for a publicity and promotional standpoint.

 

[ATSAM]

And now that great leader of leaders, our ex club President comes and says that Gary would have stayed if it had not been for that ex Coachs behaviour.
So now the much loved Costa has spoken perhaps we can overcome the vitriolic comments about Ablett.
He would have stayed.
He is just the first to be poached by the AFLs new version of our game, plenty of money to new teams. Scully is the next to be placed in a horrible position and it will increase.

 

[darren forssman]

Darren I think fraudulent is a pretty harsh word to describe the Ablett's because snr really did alot of charity support work and I was fortunate enough to meet the guy on numerous occassions and was just an absolute top bloke very kind and gave you his time as long as there weren't any camera or journos around. His overall benefit to football and the community is forever changed because of his work on and off the field. Gary jnr would likely be similar although never met him myself but he does do alot of work with the community but of course more for a publicity and promotional standpoint.

i was referring to thompson and juniors exits from the club and how they handled it.

 

[Vdubs]

And now that great leader of leaders, our ex club President comes and says that Gary would have stayed if it had not been for that ex Coachs behaviour.
So now the much loved Costa has spoken perhaps we can overcome the vitriolic comments about Ablett.
He would have stayed.
He is just the first to be poached by the AFLs new version of our game, plenty of money to new teams. Scully is the next to be placed in a horrible position and it will increase.

I F that is true, and I have had many thoughts about Bomber's negative role in all of this, then it really is a sad indictment on Bomber in more than one way. If he knew all along he was Essendon bound, and did his best to make it easy for Ablett to leave, what a T**D.

 

[CatFan79]

I F that is true, and I have had many thoughts about Bomber's negative role in all of this, then it really is a sad indictment on Bomber in more than one way. If he knew all along he was Essendon bound, and did his best to make it easy for Ablett to leave, what a T**D.

Bomber became selfish and self consumed last year and had clearly ceased giving a shit about the club.. He took Ablett and his pending decision personally which is just childish, all the while being deceptive when Costa/Cook asked about the Essendon rumours.

Looks like the Demons are showing everyone the best way to handle these situations...

 

[TheHonestyPolicy]

And now that great leader of leaders, our ex club President comes and says that Gary would have stayed if it had not been for that ex Coachs behaviour.
So now the much loved Costa has spoken perhaps we can overcome the vitriolic comments about Ablett.
He would have stayed.
He is just the first to be poached by the AFLs new version of our game, plenty of money to new teams. Scully is the next to be placed in a horrible position and it will increase.

The Gold Coast werent feverishly looking around to fill the quota on their list in case Ablett didnt sign last year (and we would be talking close to 20-25% of their entire salary cap). This is because he was already signed. All the papers got it right on who was signed, so the media information that an agreement in writing was made prior to the 2010 season beginning seems the only rational explanation for how everyone involved in this scenario acted after that agreement was made late 2009. This is when Ablett approached the Gold Coast himself for the purposes of being "poached", well thats according to Guy Mc Kenna himself.

Frank is a great man, but its not the first time he has spoken from the heart and not so much from the head.

You on the other hand have never had a positive word to say about anyone inside the GFC, except Gary Ablett, who isnt there any more, so not sure once this thread dies we will be seeing you around all that much?

Oh and I doubt poaching players to this degree is on the rise. As Brad Scott mentioned these are exceptional circumstances with two new clubs entering the competition in two years. Again this has nothing to do with the duplicitous way Ablett acted and how he lied about his true intentions once he had signed with the Gold Coast late in 2009.

 

[ATSAM]

But TheHonesty Policy, Frank said that Gary would have stayed. This is the ex President speaking. Is he now not telling the truth?. You can't have it both ways.
And it is too easy to try and knock someone off by making disparaging remarks about them, stick to the topic. I will worry about whether I support the club and/or the team. They are quite different.

 

[bobbycatsfanme]

i was referring to thompson and juniors exits from the club and how they handled it.

sorry mate

 

[darren forssman]

And now that great leader of leaders, our ex club President comes and says that Gary would have stayed if it had not been for that ex Coachs behaviour.
So now the much loved Costa has spoken perhaps we can overcome the vitriolic comments about Ablett.
He would have stayed.

im confused, as in this article gary wrote last year, their relationship is really strong:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/my-mate-bomber/story-e6frf9jf-1225893387967

 

[vinum coupe]

Still going strong I see lads.

 

[TheHonestyPolicy]

But TheHonesty Policy, Frank said that Gary would have stayed. This is the ex President speaking. Is he now not telling the truth?. You can't have it both ways.
And it is too easy to try and knock someone off by making disparaging remarks about them, stick to the topic. I will worry about whether I support the club and/or the team. They are quite different.

Ablett lied to everyone at the GFC. You have to understand Frank must be taking Gary at his word, which we have all learnt in hindsight is fraught with danger. This doesnt mean Frank isnt telling the truth, I'm sure he is.

Pointing out you never have anything positive to say about anyone at the GFC other than Ablett, who isnt there any longer, is not a disparaging remark, merely an assessment of fact. Supporting the "team" and not the "club" is like buying a chassis without an engine; good luck with that

 

[TheHonestyPolicy]

Still going strong I see lads.

With so many still reading it, why not . Then again, I hope the actual truth comes out one day, I think all true Geelong supporters deserve that.

 

[vinum coupe]

I am a reader. I can't help it.
Having said that I don't read anything over a paragrpgh in this thread.

And once the season starts, the thread numbers fire up and all the "we must sack Scott" threads start I won't read this at all.

 

[Beth]

Well I for one am glad this thread is still going as I need something to read whilst crocheting my ablett voodoo doll out of bits of string and recycled lint from my clothes dryer.

 

[vinum coupe]

lol.
You've come such a long way in such a short period of time Beth

 

[Beth]

Haven't I just! I'm in stage 4.2 of the grieving process - *it puts the lotion the basket or it gets the hose again*

 

[_Me_]

But TheHonesty Policy, Frank said that Gary would have stayed. This is the ex President speaking. Is he now not telling the truth?. You can't have it both ways.
And it is too easy to try and knock someone off by making disparaging remarks about them, stick to the topic. I will worry about whether I support the club and/or the team. They are quite different.

frank is not the baseline i would use on the ablett fiasco

cook is the best man on this issue - as he is honest

costa loves the abletts despite whatever they do
he never faced reality on this issue - and he would rather blame bomber rather than the judas himself