Nathan Ablett

[samthemanlonergan]

Now when he was taken a few years back the Cats stressed for patience from the fans with him. But he has been around a while now, and turns 22 this year. Surely he must step up this year with Kingley out of the way.

So what do you guys think? Is he about to stamp himslef on the competition this year? Or will he just have another development year?

 

[carn_the_cattas]

Not yet. He is still in competition with Gardiner, Playfair and soon Hawkins as the third tall. He has more potential than Gardiner and Playfair but its all about the performance on the field. He'd be ahead of Playfair and Hawkins but he'd be on par, if not behind, Gardiner.

Although, I'd still show faith in him and pick him but he needs to kick more goals to stay in the side. Thats what he's paid to do.

 

[crosby123]

Behind Gardiner currently, in my book. He will be better, but at the moment he hasn't quite hit his stride.

 

[jess_555]

Only boarderline top 22 for me (that doesn't really answer the question... oh well). He is okay but still has work to do. I like him getting heaps of experience in the seniors.

 

[cat_fanatic]

I think he's on the line. If you’re talking about the best 22 players in terms of skill and footy brain then I would rank them something like:

1. Chapman
2. Scarlett
3. G. Ablett
4. Bartel
5. Mooney
6. Milburn
7. Ottens
8. Rooke
9. Corey
10. Ling
11. Enright
12. J. Hunt
13. Egan
14. Harley
15. Kelly
16. Prismall
17. Mackie
18. S. Johnson
19. Stokes
20. Tenace
21. Selwood
22. D. Johnson


23. Gardiner
24. King
25. N. Ablett
26. Djerrkura
27. Playfair
28. Callan
29. Blake

However, he is probably our third best forward (tall) option and I think that warrants selection. If however he doesn’t perform, i honestly don’t thinks it’s going to be too long before they give him the flick and give some one else a shot; some one who might kick twenty-six pointers a game!

 

[thegerman]

I think he will do a lot better this year, remember he came out of a country junior footy team, not the Cats or Calder Cannons etc.

Sure he has had two years to develop thus far, but he has come via the totally wrong route. His skills were so low when joining the Cats he was lucky to get a run in the VFL.

He showed some real form at the end of the year in the two's, and should show some promise in the one's this year.

 

[Tonycam*]

Dont think he is in our best 22 but would be very close and will improve if his heart is in it. I have to agree that he is our 3 best forward option and Hawkins will not be ready until at least the last part of the season at the earliest

 

[Sunovagun]

Let's not forget, our midfield was murdered last year which in no way helped any of the forwards.

I think they just have to play him regardless. I mean if you have ottens and mooney down forward. They most likely will take the 2 best defenders leaving the 3rd best defender to Nablett.
And on any given day at least one of those blokes will beat their defender and hopefully get 3/4 goals.

...and there may even still be a spot for gardiner on the flank

 

[Jumpin' Jill]

I reckon he'll step up now that he's not the gun forward everybody's talking about. Having Hawkins around will take the pressure off N.Ablett a bit and I think it'll help.

Also, I don't think it's footy smarts that Nathan lacks - he's got excellent awareness (better even than Gary's I think), and his handballing is excellent. He thinks fast but looks slow. Maybe it's hunger or fierceness he's lacking. But I don't doubt that he'll be better this year, and even better next year.

All up, I agree with Tonycam*: he's close, and he's got a bit of time to improve.

 

[finrod]

He's not in the best 22 yet, but might be if he can perform like he did in the VFL late last year. On NAB cup form, Charlie G is slightly ahead of him atm..

 

[Inferno]

Not yet but he's close. Needs to be a bit more consistant and goes missing sometimes.

 

[Copernicus]

It's very hard to say. As others have said, he's on the borderline. All he needs are some good, consistent performances in the first few rounds and he's in the top 22, if not, I guess it'll be back to the VFL and more rotation of the forward stocks. I think we need him to stand up this year. We simply don't have enough proven forwards.

 

[grantyc77]

I think he needs to play in the seniors, for those who seen him in the finals of the VFL, he was a class above, just his footy brain is very good. His a smart player, i hope they persist with him because he will be our best third tall this year.

 

[Soupy]

Nope, doesn't do enough.

 

[StevieJohnsonComesAlive07]

I think he's on the line. If you’re talking about the best 22 players in terms of skill and footy brain then I would rank them something like:

1. Chapman
2. Scarlett
3. G. Ablett
4. Bartel
5. Mooney
6. Milburn
7. Ottens
8. Rooke
9. Corey
10. Ling
11. Enright
12. J. Hunt
13. Egan
14. Harley
15. Kelly
16. Prismall
17. Mackie
18. S. Johnson
19. Stokes
20. Tenace
21. Selwood
22. D. Johnson


23. Gardiner
24. King
25. N. Ablett
26. Djerrkura
27. Playfair
28. Callan
29. Blake

However, he is probably our third best forward (tall) option and I think that warrants selection. If however he doesn’t perform, i honestly don’t thinks it’s going to be too long before they give him the flick and give some one else a shot; some one who might kick twenty-six pointers a game!

i would put Djerrkura ahead of Tenace - may not have the speed but has better footy brain and skills.

 

[Partridge]

Dont think he is in our best 22 but would be very close and will improve if his heart is in it. I have to agree that he is our 3 best forward option and Hawkins will not be ready until at least the last part of the season at the earliest

Considering we had a forward last year who at one stage kicked 2 goals in 8 games I don't see why we can't perservere with Ablett.

 

[Dont you hate pants?]

Not necessarily in the best 22, but for the sake of his development and potential needs to be in the best 22. There are guys like charlie, hank for example to have been there for a while and still havent gone on to be all that flash. Nathan needs to be out there simply for him to get comfortable, and develop the idea of wanting and comanding the ball. He is an "un-tapped" footballer compared to the guys mentioned above. He could yet turn out to be a dud, or on the flipside be a real decent player for us. He came from the BFL, and subsequently missed out on all the things that the more typical route to AFL provides. I say give him the benefit of the doubt for the moment and persist. As pertridge mentioned above, last year we had a key forward who went 8 for 2 goals or something along those lines. Nathan will do much better than that.

 

[Nunga]

i would put Djerrkura ahead of Tenace - may not have the speed but has better footy brain and skills.

Djerrkura is much faster over 30 to 40 meters than Tenace, did you see his draft camp time for the 20 m 2.79 secs that is in the top 2 % of all this years player at the camp. Tenace is probably quicker over 100 m

 

[cat in sydney]

I'd probably say while he's not in the 'top 22' list in terms of talent/skill etc atm (see cf_21's list), he should be in our 22 every week.
While Gardiner certainly has improved this year, and form would say he is slightly ahead of Nablett, I think it's clear by now that Charlie's never going to be anything special, in fact still borderline worrying.
Nablett at least has the potential to be a good/great long-term player for us. I say we give him a solid go in the 22, allow him time to develop confidence and rythym, and hope he improves. If he does, then we've got a pretty mean forward line. If not, then we've got Hawkins coming through who hopefully will be a gun.

 

[Partridge]

Djerrkura is much faster over 30 to 40 meters than Tenace, did you see his draft camp time for the 20 m 2.79 secs that is in the top 2 % of all this years player at the camp. Tenace is probably quicker over 100 m

Yeah I mentioned elsewhere Tenace is from all the reports the fastest over 100m, probably others have faster bursts.

My point has been all along that Tenace has been a bit stiff at the selection table a few times - first one dropped etc. He played on the weekend and played very well, I'd just be extremely annoyed if he wasn't selected against the Dogs.

 

[thegerman]

Let's not forget, our midfield was murdered last year which in no way helped any of the forwards.

I think they just have to play him regardless. I mean if you have ottens and mooney down forward. They most likely will take the 2 best defenders leaving the 3rd best defender to Nablett.
And on any given day at least one of those blokes will beat their defender and hopefully get 3/4 goals.

...and there may even still be a spot for gardiner on the flank

You're pretty much right mate, Nath will improve if he isn't the focal point. However he does need to learn when to command the ball.

Hopefully our midfield can hit their targets, unlike last year when none of them could. Last year most of our mids would pass to a one on two or three, also kicking over their heads so they would have to backtrack.

Hopefully they've learned by their mistakes.

 

[Partridge]

Hopefully our midfield can hit their targets, unlike last year when none of them could. Last year most of our mids would pass to a one on two or three, also kicking over their heads so they would have to backtrack.

Hopefully they've learned by their mistakes.

Judging by the games against Richmond and Melbourne, I was encouraged that most of the time they moved the ball pretty quickly. On Saturday there was one passage of play where Tenace passed to N.Ablett, who passed to Gardiner, who kicked long to Mooney one out and a goal resulted. Virtually end to end in about 30 seconds. Now we all know it won't happen every time but it demonstrated the effect of moving the ball quickly to the forwards. I just hope that they don't get discouraged if the first few forward attempts don't result in goals.

The Dogs aren't a tall side, move the ball in quickly (and accurately) to the big guys and they just might crack.