News OFFICIAL: Gary Ablett traded to Geelong

How many games will Ablett play for Geelong in his second stint


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He's only played 35 of 66 games in the last three seasons, so while he was incredibly durable for most of his career, that's not at all the case now.
EFA.

It's far from my only reason for not being keen on the return of Gaz but I find his recent injury history to be quite alarming and indicative of a player who may find it very difficult to get through even one more season at the elite level.

Will have to reserve judgement until the end of '17, I know, but I have strong doubts that he will get through this year without another serious injury setback.

His last three seasons are hardly cause for optimism on that front.
 
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Rockford

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Maybe a preseason schedule like the Bombers have Kelly doing would work for Gaz. Everyone knows he trains incredibly hard, perhaps he needs to dial it down a bit. Could be a very good move, would be worth it even if he was out there and copping the tag freeing up Danger and Selwood. And if they don't tag him... then we all know what he's capable of.
 
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The writing is on the wall,
Looking evermore likely by the minute,
Selling his house on the Goldie,
Relinquishes the captaincy
His family need him now more than ever (no money in the world can replace that, re: Ben Cousins)
He is homesick
Will play forward pocket, (be All Australian again), swing into the midfield when required ala Shaun Burgoyne, kick 40/50 + lead us again to premiership glory ( hopefully ;)
I wonder what number he will take?

HE IS AND ALWAYS WILL BE GEELONG



* Also
Who on earth thinks Rodeny Eade is a good coach, or, would want to be coached under him. NOBODY, if they had the choice.
 

LifeSpan-Void

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Is Ablett actually in record as saying he'll play forward pocket? I seem to recall him very publicly cracking the shits at Thompson for playing him in that position, and for all of anyone's talent what good are they if they're not prepared to play the role that's asked of them? Also I'm not sold on Ablett's ability to play at such a high standard as before, given how long that shoulder of his has been limited.
 

Pure_Ownage

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I think the club will be more worried about finding the 1st round draft pick they have to get next draft instead of worrying about getting Ablett home, if they really wanted him they would have pushed harder this trade period.
Ablett would be a cheap trade in terms of picks (obviously not in terms of salary) so I doubt it's linked to the first rounder issue. I think it's more that the Ablett approach came too late in the piece for them to be able to free up all the salary space needed to get him in (we were a long way down the road with Tuohy also by that stage) this time they have 12 months to plan it. That said there are still some significant obstacles.

1. Shoulder injury-if he doesn't have a good year durability wise we won't want him and if he does it might mean GC want more than he is worth.

2. He will be 33/34 by the end of 2017 and a free agent in 2018, no one is trading any pick in the top 40 or a best 22 player for someone of that age regardless of his ability. So GC would have to be prepared to take a 3rd rounder or equivalent value player (ie fringe not first 22). Now their football dept might do that if we wear most or all of his salary if they can use that money to get an A grader in however Cochrane is an egomaniac who will get in the way (his record in v8 supercars tells me that) so they would have to sent him overseas for the trade period for anything to realistically get done.

3. AFL is the big elephant in the room as they fund GC and have paid most of what Ablett is on for years. Now we know Ablett is on 1 mil in each of 2017 and 2018. GC might be happy to move on that money if he doesnt want to be there and they can use that money to get a younger A grader in, it's better for their overall group. But the AFL doesn't really have the same goals as GC here, they want to keep AFL relevant in the media at a time when the two QLD clubs are doing very badly. They may be happy to keep Ablett there even if he doesn't want to be there as his name gets them the media coverage (which a younger A grader who has as much ability but who doesn't have the media profile in a non football state wouldn't do) and even if he is disgruntled he is unlikely to cause them off field scandals etc (he is low risk there). More to the point GC might be happy to pay say 250 k of his 2018 wage (with Geelong paying the other 750k) if it gets them a good trade deal and/or they can get a good player in with the freed up money. This after all is what Richmond did with Deledio but the difference is Richmond pay their own wages GC don't, so they if they do that it's effectively the AFL that has to pay the 250k for Ablett to play elsewhere and I don't see why they would want to do that.

If I had to guess now I would say the AFL probably don't block a trade altogether (though technically they can) especially if Ablett threatens to retire if he isn't traded, but they won't let him come here on a salary discount, they will make Geelong wear the whole salary in our cap like they did with Sydney and Franklin. Which probably means for us to make the numbers work we would have to give him a 2 or 3 year deal with something like 1mil 450 450 so that the average $ per year is lower over the total years, but a multi year contract is a big risk for a 33 yo with injury issues. This is why people saying it's an easy and cheap trade because of the Mitchell and Lewis examples are off base, as there are a lot of extra hurdles here that didn't exist in those cases.
 
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Is Ablett actually in record as saying he'll play forward pocket? I seem to recall him very publicly cracking the shits at Thompson for playing him in that position, and for all of anyone's talent what good are they if they're not prepared to play the role that's asked of them? Also I'm not sold on Ablett's ability to play at such a high standard as before, given how long that shoulder of his has been limited.
Thompson was 2010, I think he's realistic enough to know that eight years later he might not be well served playing 100% in midfield. Forward pocket is the obvious next position for him.


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Stan The Caddy

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If I had to guess now I would say the AFL probably don't block a trade altogether (though technically they can) especially if Ablett threatens to retire if he isn't traded, but they won't let him come here on a salary discount, they will make Geelong wear the whole salary in our cap like they did with Sydney and Franklin. Which probably means for us to make the numbers work we would have to give him a 2 or 3 year deal with something like 1mil 450 450 so that the average $ per year is lower over the total years, but a multi year contract is a big risk for a 33 yo with injury issues. This is why people saying it's an easy and cheap trade because of the Mitchell and Lewis examples are off base, as there are a lot of extra hurdles here that didn't exist in those cases.
So they're not going to block the trade now? At least you're starting to make some sense I guess. I respect your opinion PO but you're off on this one mate, just like you were on the Bartel situation as well as the Varcoe and Kersten trades as well. Of course they'll let him come here on a different salary to what he is currently on. As long as the other 3 parties agree to it there is nothing that they can do about that. You bring up the Deledio situation and say that it's different but then you bring up Franklin's defection to the Swans and compare it to that? Come on mate.
 

LifeSpan-Void

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Thompson was 2010, I think he's realistic enough to know that eight years later he might not be well served playing 100% in midfield. Forward pocket is the obvious next position for him.
Is he though? I mean, he unrealistically tried to get a trade while under contract, I don't remember seeing him take to playing a forward pocket in his return games for the Suns in any significant capacity. I'm not convinced his "Gary's way or the highway" attitude has been tamed by time.
 

Pure_Ownage

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So they're not going to block the trade now? At least you're starting to make some sense I guess. I respect your opinion PO but you're off on this one mate, just like you were on the Bartel situation as well as the Varcoe and Kersten trades as well. Of course they'll let him come here on a different salary to what he is currently on. As long as the other 3 parties agree to it there is nothing that they can do about that. You bring up the Deledio situation and say that it's different but then you bring up Franklin's defection to the Swans and compare it to that? Come on mate.
I'm not sure if you actually read that post (or any of my previous ones). But anyway.

The point is Richmond are paying about 200k of Deledio's 2017 salary because a) it got them a better pick deal and b) GWS couldn't fit him in the cap otherwise but it's fairly easy for Richmond to do as they pay their own TPP whereas GC don't fund their own TPP most of that comes from the AFL, so it's pretty easy to see why it's a different situation if GC want to pay part of Ablett's salary for him to pay elsewhere and why the AFL might not be so keen. The point was merely that the AFL could have blocked what Richmond did if they wanted to they obviously just felt there was no benefit to them in doing so, this might be a different scenario.

My point about the Franklin scenario was they can and do make rules about certain clubs having to wear a player's full contract (when it suits them of course the AFL is generally selfish) whereas everyone keeps posting that Ablett will just rip up his GC 2018 contract and sign a new one with Geelong. I have never said the AFL would do this or that they would definitely block a trade, at the end of the day we are all guessing, all I have said is that they can and do have the power to do it if they want to, which is 100 % correct. So I am really not sure what you are getting yourself in such a tizz about.

As for Ablett if you want to ask me what I really think is most likely I think it's Ablett's shoulder not holding up and him having to retire and then ending up at Geelong in some sort of non playing role. But we are all spitballing on this one.
 

The rabbi

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As for Ablett if you want to ask me what I really think is most likely I think it's Ablett's shoulder not holding up and him having to retire and then ending up at Geelong in some sort of non playing role. But we are all spitballing on this one.
Funny that you should say that. I have also contemplated this scenario and see it as something more likely than Ablett returning to Geelong as a player.
 

Stan The Caddy

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I'm not sure if you actually read that post (or any of my previous ones). But anyway.

The point is Richmond are paying about 200k of Deledio's 2017 salary because a) it got them a better pick deal and b) GWS couldn't fit him in the cap otherwise but it's fairly easy for Richmond to do as they pay their own TPP whereas GC don't fund their own TPP most of that comes from the AFL, so it's pretty easy to see why it's a different situation if GC want to pay part of Ablett's salary for him to pay elsewhere and why the AFL might not be so keen. The point was merely that the AFL could have blocked what Richmond did if they wanted to they obviously just felt there was no benefit to them in doing so, this might be a different scenario.

My point about the Franklin scenario was they can and do make rules about certain clubs having to wear a player's full contract (when it suits them of course the AFL is generally selfish) whereas everyone keeps posting that Ablett will just rip up his GC 2018 contract and sign a new one with Geelong. I have never said the AFL would do this or that they would definitely block a trade, at the end of the day we are all guessing, all I have said is that they can and do have the power to do it if they want to, which is 100 % correct. So I am really not sure what you are getting yourself in such a tizz about.

As for Ablett if you want to ask me what I really think is most likely I think it's Ablett's shoulder not holding up and him having to retire and then ending up at Geelong in some sort of non playing role. But we are all spitballing on this one.
Yes I did read that post and your previous ones and I must say that they weren't any of your best efforts.

"The AFL could have blocked what Richmond did if they wanted to they obviously just felt there was no benefit to them in doing so". Listen to yourself. This comment is bordering on delusional paranoia mate. Players take pay cuts all the time when they change clubs and clubs pay certain percentages of a players salary when they change clubs all the time as well. The Deledio situation is nothing unique whatsoever. Also, when have the AFL ever blocked any trade of any kind? Good lord...

Your point about the Franklin scenario is even worse. The AFL didn't make up any rules at all. All they did was stipulate that if Franklin was to retire the Swans would still need to include his salary in the cap. This rule is not new. You go on to say that you've never said that the AFL will do this or do that but I must say that you do seem to have a tendency to post things as if they are a matter of fact and not just your personal opinion. We both know that I'm not the first person to allude to this either. And don't worry, I'm not in a tizz. I'm just calling it as I see it.

There is no chance in hell that Ablett will retire, IMO of course. He'll either stay up North and milk another mill out of the Suns or more likely come back to the Cats and play here for a year or two.
 

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Pure_Ownage

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Funny that you should say that. I have also contemplated this scenario and see it as something more likely than Ablett returning to Geelong as a player.
I think given his age and the troubles with the shoulder the last 2 years there's a real chance it happens but I try not to think about it too much as I would be sad to see such a champion player have to finish up that way. I would much prefer to see him playing out his twilight years at a high level even if it means he is playing for GC.
 

Pure_Ownage

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Yes I did read that post and your previous ones and I must say that they weren't any of your best efforts.

"The AFL could have blocked what Richmond did if they wanted to they obviously just felt there was no benefit to them in doing so". Listen to yourself. This comment is bordering on delusional paranoia mate. Players take pay cuts all the time when they change clubs and clubs pay certain percentages of a players salary when they change clubs all the time as well. The Deledio situation is nothing unique whatsoever. Also, when have the AFL ever blocked any trade of any kind? Good lord...

Your point about the Franklin scenario is even worse. The AFL didn't make up any rules at all. All they did was stipulate that if Franklin was to retire the Swans would still need to include his salary in the cap. This rule is not new. You go on to say that you've never said that the AFL will do this or do that but I must say that you do seem to have a tendency to post things as if they are a matter of fact and not just your personal opinion. We both know that I'm not the first person to allude to this either. And don't worry, I'm not in a tizz. I'm just calling it as I see it.

There is no chance in hell that Ablett will retire, IMO of course. He'll either stay up North and milk another mill out of the Suns or more likely come back to the Cats and play here for a year or two.
Of course the Deledio scenario is not unique, I could have given another half a dozen recent scenarios where it happened. The point I was making is that the Ablett scenario IS unique because they have actually been paying him to play up there for years and if 'GC' was to pay part of his salary to play for us the AFL would be ones paying it, and therefore any comparisons to previous scenarios where older players have been traded for virtually nothing and taken a pay cut are not good comparisons. This point is obviously lost on you.

I never ever said that the AFL 'made up any rule' in regards to Franklin all I said was that they chose to enforce the rule when it suited them to do so which is exactly what happened. Don't talk rubbish. I don't have a problem with genuine criticism of ideas and I don't expect people to agree with mine but don't make things up and say people say things they have never said because you want to play the man and not the ball.

Anyway you may think as you wish, I am not going to keep discussing it with you but you are entitled to your opinion.
 

Spazz Cat

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Don't think the AFL would care. The Ablett publicity factor has already worn off on the GC.
They'd probably be better served if he left and they got another high profile player. They get attention for him leaving for a start and then the attention and speculation of who the new player will be etc.
Then the great story of him coming back home. Extra publicity, extra clickbait, more $
 

Stan The Caddy

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Of course the Deledio scenario is not unique, I could have given another half a dozen recent scenarios where it happened. The point I was making is that the Ablett scenario IS unique because they have actually been paying him to play up there for years and if 'GC' was to pay part of his salary to play for us the AFL would be ones paying it, and therefore any comparisons to previous scenarios where older players have been traded for virtually nothing and taken a pay cut are not good comparisons. This point is obviously lost on you.

I never ever said that the AFL 'made up any rule' in regards to Franklin all I said was that they chose to enforce the rule when it suited them to do so which is exactly what happened. Don't talk rubbish. I don't have a problem with genuine criticism of ideas and I don't expect people to agree with mine but don't make things up and say people say things they have never said because you want to play the man and not the ball.

Anyway you may think as you wish, I am not going to keep discussing it with you but you are entitled to your opinion.
It looks to me as though you've decided to throw the toys out of the cot mate. All you're doing now is continually changing the goal posts which is typical BF behaviour when you've been called out on something. I have no problem with you. Infact, I think that you're a good poster but I'm still going to call it as I see it.

You actually did say that the AFL made up a rule in regards to Sydney and Franklin. Go back and read your posts again please. You also say that "they chose to enforce the rule when it suited them to do so" but when have they ever not enforced the rule? Which player or club did they not enforce it for? The only person talking rubbish is you mate.
 

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Don't think the AFL would care. The Ablett publicity factor has already worn off on the GC.
They'd probably be better served if he left and they got another high profile player. They get attention for him leaving for a start and then the attention and speculation of who the new player will be etc.
Then the great story of him coming back home. Extra publicity, extra clickbait, more $
IMO it will really come down to whether the AFL want to cut their losses so to speak and if they can get more value from GAJ leaving and better press/results from his replacement - or do they ride it out and hope he comes good for them...

Will be anyones guess...

GO Catters
 

Stan The Caddy

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Don't think the AFL would care. The Ablett publicity factor has already worn off on the GC.
They'd probably be better served if he left and they got another high profile player. They get attention for him leaving for a start and then the attention and speculation of who the new player will be etc.
Then the great story of him coming back home. Extra publicity, extra clickbait, more $
Exactly. Whether it's this year or next year Ablett is leaving and the AFL knows this. They also know that the best way in which to keep the Suns relevant isn't by holding on to Ablett, but by having the Suns be a successful club and winning lots of games over a long period. This is what the AFL will be more concerned about.
 

Pure_Ownage

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It looks to me as though you've decided to throw the toys out of the cot mate. All you're doing now is continually changing the goal posts which is typical BF behaviour when you've been called out on something. I have no problem with you. Infact, I think that you're a good poster but I'm still going to call it as I see it.

You actually did say that the AFL made up a rule in regards to Sydney and Franklin. Go back and read your posts again please. You also say that "they chose to enforce the rule when it suited them to do so" but when have they ever not enforced the rule? Which player or club did they not enforce it for? The only person talking rubbish is you mate.
This the preceded post (with the relevant bit in bolded).
If I had to guess now I would say the AFL probably don't block a trade altogether (though technically they can) especially if Ablett threatens to retire if he isn't traded, but they won't let him come here on a salary discount, they will make Geelong wear the whole salary in our cap like they did with Sydney and Franklin. Which probably means for us to make the numbers work we would have to give him a 2 or 3 year deal with something like 1mil 450 450 so that the average $ per year is lower over the total years, but a multi year contract is a big risk for a 33 yo with injury issues. This is why people saying it's an easy and cheap trade because of the Mitchell and Lewis examples are off base, as there are a lot of extra hurdles here that didn't exist in those cases.

Where have I said the AFL 'made up a rule'. I have not said such a thing nor do I think it.

Look I don't have a problem with anything else you have said and I don't mind at all if you come and disagree with my ideas on this or anything else and I don't mind if a heap of other people do the same. The discussion is healthy.

What I have a problem with is you deliberating lying about something because you would like to have a crack at someone. Whatever else you might think about my views on this or any other subject I am not deliberately making anything up, but you are. I just think that is a really really poor way to act online or in life and I would be calling it out for what it is if you made the same comments about anyone else and I wasn't involved.

You may continue to make up things as much as you like but frankly it says more about you than it does about me. I will leave it at that.
 

you pick one

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3. AFL is the big elephant in the room as they fund GC and have paid most of what Ablett is on for years. Now we know Ablett is on 1 mil in each of 2017 and 2018. GC might be happy to move on that money if he doesnt want to be there and they can use that money to get a younger A grader in, it's better for their overall group. But the AFL doesn't really have the same goals as GC here, they want to keep AFL relevant in the media at a time when the two QLD clubs are doing very badly.
Bit off topic but the two team policy in QLD will be lucky to see the next decade out without another intervention from the AFL that will guarantee finals footy.Also the Ablett gloss has worn off up here and he must realizes that, it will be behind his push to get back to Victoria.
 

Spazz Cat

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IMO it will really come down to whether the AFL want to cut their losses so to speak and if they can get more value from GAJ leaving and better press/results from his replacement - or do they ride it out and hope he comes good for them...

Will be anyones guess...

GO Catters
If everyone is smart about this and don't let egos get in the way everyone wins.
If we get him for nothing and the contract is torn up, we win pick wise, the Suns win by getting 1mill to play with and getting 1 or 2 long term players who actually want to be there.
AFL wins with more publicity and more of a chance of success with the Suns.
Gazza wins by getting to come home. Salary cut is offset by more media, endorsements etc from being back in Vic and will be better for his career after football.
 

you pick one

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IMO it will really come down to whether the AFL want to cut their losses so to speak and if they can get more value from GAJ leaving and better press/results from his replacement - or do they ride it out and hope he comes good for them...

Will be anyones guess...

GO Catters
O'meara was the one they were banking on to put bums on seats,Gaz is yesterdays man.
 

Stan The Caddy

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What I have a problem with is you deliberating lying about something because you would like to have a crack at someone. Whatever else you might think about my views on this or any other subject I am not deliberately making anything up, but you are. I just think that is a really really poor way to act online or in life and I would be calling it out for what it is if you made the same comments about anyone else and I wasn't involved.

You may continue to make up things as much as you like but frankly it says more about you than it does about me. I will leave it at that.
I've never asked for this on BF before, but I'd like an apology for this please. It is clearly wrong and I would expect better from you.
 

Spazz Cat

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Bit off topic but the two team policy in QLD will be lucky to see the next decade out without another intervention from the AFL that will guarantee finals footy.Also the Ablett gloss has worn off up here and he must realizes that, it will be behind his push to get back to Victoria.
Really piss poor implementation of the 2nd Qld team. Totally neglecting their first team that's still not properly established and giving everything to the 2nd one.
Tough times ahead for Brissy.
 

Pure_Ownage

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It's right here mate. In black and white. You wrote this today. How can you even be arguing about this?
That's what you are referring to? It was pretty clear that in context my use of the word 'make' was the rule always being there but the AFL 'making' a decision about whether to use (i.e enforce) a rule that already exists, based on whether it suits them or not (I have referred to this heaps of times in my previous posts on the Ablett trade issue and it was fairly obvious I was referring to it again).

There is a big difference (a chasm of difference) from that and saying that and saying the AFL would actually make up (i.e. invent rules that don't exist) for the sake of blocking an Ablett trade or some other reason. Which, unless I severely misunderstood you, was exactly what you were saying I said.

I've never asked for this on BF before, but I'd like an apology for this please. It is clearly wrong and I would expect better from you.
You will be waiting a long time on that one. I am sorry if you are genuinely offended in some way but I stand by what I said, and I will leave it to other people to make their own judgements on this or any other matter.
 
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