Judd is number 1, no doubt about it.

[Hood007]

Re: chris judd vs gary ablett??

I cant recall seeing anyone play with as much drive and desire to be the best player going around as Gaz, almost to the point where its as important to him as team success, whereas Judd would happily get his 20 touches a game if Carlton win them all and at the end of the year thats what will make Ablett a better player.

Are you saying that's a bad thing?

 

[battle]

Re: chris judd vs gary ablett??

God I hate you for posting this thread.

why hate?? alot of people are comparing players these days so its bound to happen yeah>>??

 

[ZosoCat]

Re: chris judd vs gary ablett??

not sure how judd played thursday but i know ablett played one hell of a game Friday night.

 

[wce4premiership]

Franklin is surely number one.
He's nigh unstoppable and much rarer than an ablett. Ablett is number two at the moment.

 

[DerpWerls]

For me Ablett is number one, but Franklin is like no other... 1 in a million

 

[Duskfire]

I agree that Hawthorn applied more pressure to Ablett than was applied to Judd, but then that's really not saying much.

Ablett is highly skilled, no doubts at all there. But I have noticed that when he knows he's about to receive contact he tends to dish the ball off quickly - extremely quickly, if you take my meaning.

Many supporters fail to realize the difference between racking up lots of uncontested possesions, and doing the truly hard, gutsy and self-sacraficing things that might not always get noticed by commentators but go a long way towards inspiring your teamates to dig deeper themselves. Glenn Archer was famous for the kind of stuff I'm talking about.

I tend to wonder how much of Ablett's undying loyalty is to the Geelong football club, and how much is invested in what's best for Garry Ablett jr.
His father wasn't known as a great team player or clubman, but as a superb individual achiever. Players like that are great at winning brownlow votes & coleman medals, but they don't always enable your team win the ultimate prize and that's what really matters.


You could certainly make a great case that Ablett is the most skillful player in the AFL right now (though I would disagree) but the most valuable? Definitely not.

Are you being serious? Ablett is constantly keeping his feet when he is being tackled, skirting out of other players grasps, always taking players on. He only passes quickly when there is a better option available. Ablett may dive a bit here and there, but he certainly isn't afraid of contact.

 

[Bosk]

Are you being serious? Ablett is constantly keeping his feet when he is being tackled, skirting out of other players grasps, always taking players on. He only passes quickly when there is a better option available. Ablett may dive a bit here and there, but he certainly isn't afraid of contact.

Say what you will, but I certainly wouldn't call Gary Ablett jr. courageous, fearless or selfless - those are the qualities which win premierships, not oodles of uncontested possessions and flashy skills.
Unfortunately there are many people at Geelong (both players and fans) who have never really learnt this and continued to wonder why their club was "unlucky" for so long.

So for me, Ablett jr. embodies both the best and worst of Geelong in a way.
That said, he's no doubt a great player and certainly one of the league's best midfielders.

 

[Duskfire]

Say what you will, but I certainly wouldn't call Gary Ablett jr. courageous, fearless or selfless - those are the qualities which win premierships, not oodles of uncontested possessions and flashy skills.
Unfortunately there are many people at Geelong (both players and fans) who have never really learnt this and continued to wonder why their club was "unlucky" for so long.

So for me, Ablett jr. embodies both the best and worst of Geelong in a way.
That said, he's no doubt a great player and certainly one of the league's best midfielders.

So for someone who apparently has oodles of uncontested possessions, how was it that he ranked something like 8th last year at contested possessions, and this with missing pretty much 4 games?

 

[Koutafidamedis]

Re: chris judd vs gary ablett??

not sure how judd played thursday but i know ablett played one hell of a game Friday night.

Judd also had a fantastic game this week.
Granted Ablett takes the points for Rd 1, but anyone who writes off Judd is just crazy. He showed he is getting back to his best and the only reason people think he is past it, is because he wears navy blue.

 

[Heeney2Franklin]

Judd 2004-2007 or Ablett 2007-2009?

Very hard to pick but i would say the things i saw Judd do at his WCE days were amazing.

 

[EastcoastDocker]

Re: chris judd vs gary ablett??

i actually thought their games were pretty comparable... the quality of judds touches were pretty amazing.

 

[DCFCFAN84]

Re: chris judd vs gary ablett??

I would take Juddy though Ablett is a superstar I think he is helped greatly by the strngth of his side. That goal Judd kicked off his left in the pocket was extremly classy the most impressive thing is how natural it looked.

 

[JHF1870]

Agreed Judd is #1

 

[WeninRome]

Not really. Ablett cops the hard tag each week, not to mention cops hits off the ball on a weekly basis, yet still gets 35 touches and 3 goals despite this.

If Ablett was out on the field last night instead of Judd, he would have got 50 touches and kicked 16 goals.

But I do agree with whoever it was that said Judd has given Carlton their "swagger back." They were pretty impressive last night. Waite in particular (whom I have never rated in the past).

one of the dumbest things i have heard in a while.

 

[La Vache]

Thing is, it seems to me the next 2 to 3 years is when Ablett will peak, injury permitting. Hard to believe but he has only played about 50 games as a midfielder in his career and the improvement in him even from 2007 is immense. I still think he tires late in games and drops off a little bit so another season in the middle will help him there.

I am far away right now so I didn't get to watch last night and only listened to the first quarter but he was everywhere for three quarters. Hawthorn have a very good, strong, hard working midfield but honestly we have no-one to cover him and he just cuts us up.

He has great burst speed away from packs, never loses his feet and hurts on the scoreboard like Judd.

But I believe he is better in two major facets, using the footy and one-on-one.

Judd is not an elite kick but he is good and underrated creatively. Ablett though is beautiful by foot and the equal of Judd dishing off in the clinches.

Ablett is miles ahead of Judd in the air and utterly unbeatable one-on-one when the ball is on the deck. In fact I cannot remember the last time I saw him beaten in a one-out contest and if they have stats for that I wouldn't be surprised if it had happened maybe twice in two seasons. Isolate Ablett in the forward line and you have a weapon, isolate Judd and you are giving him a rest.

It is interesting to see the amount of people on Big Footy who do not appreciate the value of a handball receive, a one-two or any sort of uncontested possession when in effect it is this ability which has allowed the likes of Ablett to become a truly elite footballer. Since he was a kid he's been great with the ball in dispute, but now he can stay involved in a footy game by running hard and creating an option and the more times a skilled player like that has the footy in his hands the better and it just makes him a nightmare to tag or run with if he is constantly involved.

Judd is a superstar no doubt, an absolute god send for what was a rabble of a football club. A leader and an inspiration to a young talented side.

Right now Ablett is about to elevate to another level to anyone else playing AFL. He is some distance ahead of Judd and maybe only Franklin right now has the raw ability to match him.

 

[PumpyChowdown]

Re: chris judd vs gary ablett??

A lot of people confuse great DreamTeam and SuperCoach scores with great play. Watching Ablett last night, a lot of his touches are "one-two" handballs of a couple of feet. Due to the nature of the Cats running game, Ablett racks up huges numbers due to this. Judd still tends to kick more, and attempts to bust through packs.

That being said, I'd say Ablett has the edge at the moment, but that could be a different story by years end.

 

[Patronus]

Re: chris judd vs gary ablett??

i actually thought their games were pretty comparable... the quality of judds touches were pretty amazing.

Maybe their games could be compariable but the opposition is nowhere near comparable.

A lot of people confuse great DreamTeam and SuperCoach scores with great play. Watching Ablett last night, a lot of his touches are "one-two" handballs of a couple of feet. Due to the nature of the Cats running game, Ablett racks up huges numbers due to this. Judd still tends to kick more, and attempts to bust through packs.

That being said, I'd say Ablett has the edge at the moment, but that could be a different story by years end.

I don't think I have ever seen Ablett attempt to bust through a pack. Shocking for a player like him.

 

[Monkey King]

Re: chris judd vs gary ablett??

Ablett will be better 2009. He's such an enjoyable player to watch.

I think it could be another 12 months before we see Judd regain his optimal mobility.

 

[tcwaters]

Personally, I'd take Judd at his best, circa 06, over Gablett.

But if he (Ablett) keeps improving, the skies the limit for him. Clearly the best mid in the comp atm.. Between him & Buddy for best player.

Those two (Judd & Ablett) def. make footy great to watch

 

[Captain Judd]

Cant wait to see Judd win this years brownlow and Gablett have another sook!

 

[hbk_aus]

Cant wait to see Judd win this years brownlow and Gablett have another sook!

A very intelligent, thoughful contribution to the thread. You, your family and your fellow supporters must be so proud...

 

[wce4premiership]

Some people have no clue. Abletts game was far better, sure he was in trouble sometimes and gave handballs but when he got it back he more often then not had found space and pinpointed a pass.
Judd still isn't at his best.
Judd at his best was slightly better than ablett but atm ablett is ahead.

 

[Hodgepodge]

At the moment, it's Gary Ablett by a mile, I don't think there's any arguing with that.

If we're talking about both players at their peak, I'd still have to go with Ablett just because of his consistency and goalkicking ability. Judd kicked a lot of goals too, but Ablett even more.

 

[DanA]

Two diffrent players that are both very well rounded but with slightly different strengths. I think on the same team they would complement each other very well.

I think Ablett is playing football as good as Judd was in 06 and right now is undoubtably the best midfielder in the game.

If Judd can get back to his best and he looks like he will it's very close.

 

[theboxmike]

judd is better imo

Easily number 1 amazing to watch