One small regret from the last 15 years...

[Baudolino]

This is random, but I was reviewing the 2007 season highlights again and was reminded how exciting it was to watch the telepathic understanding between GAJ and Nablett when they were both flying. We've been spoiled as Cats fans over the last two decades but it is a bit disappointing how little we got to them as a pairing on the field together.




What could have been!!!

 

[Baudolino]

I know they were no Cam and Zac Guthrie, but still...

 

[Seeds]

they were great but ......

are no Zac and cam Guthrie.

those guys could find each other in war zone.

 

[Turbocat]

From memory it was GA that passed to Nathan for his first goal. Some of those two highlights showed Nathan had talent. Shame he didn't have the drive.

 

[winty]

I often wonder how much of a devastating forward duo Nathan and Hawkins could've been over the last decade. It's a shame we never got to find out.

 

[Geelong_Sicko]

Here's all them juicy 2007 highlights

 

[Farmer2Goggin]

Here's all them juicy 2007 highlights

Oh my , my - forgot how good he was off the left foot.
What could have been...............

 

[Ricketz]

From memory it was GA that passed to Nathan for his first goal. Some of those two highlights showed Nathan had talent. Shame he didn't have the drive.

I think he had the drive. He was good, and had to have put in the work to get there. There is nothing wrong with a young bloke choosing what is best for him. Good on him.

I prefer to think it is a shame the game didn't offer what he wanted.

 

[Sttew]

But would we have recruited cult hero, James Podsiadly?

 

[Sky]

But would we have recruited cult hero, James Podsiadly?

You can say the same thing with Egan & Taylor

 

[Sttew]

You can say the same thing with Egan & Taylor

Masterstroke recruiting

 

[Seeds]

Here's all them juicy 2007 highlights

Nathan ablett snapping the ball like cameron.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

This is random, but I was reviewing the 2007 season highlights again and was reminded how exciting it was to watch the telepathic understanding between GAJ and Nablett when they were both flying. We've been spoiled as Cats fans over the last two decades but it is a bit disappointing how little we got to them as a pairing on the field together.




What could have been!!!

Nathan ablett is the mosy talented footballer to walk away from thr game in recent history.

If you look at his highlights reel from 2007 his skillset is wayne carey eske...

What i got told at the time from my family friend involved in list managemeny down there, is that he wad the laziest half arsed footballer who just clocked in and clocked out and did the bare minimum asked of him.

The reason he quit was because he had an absolute hatred of pre season training and didnt want to go thru it.

I recall sitting on a train trip with the team one time for a camp they had and we sat with nathan.. Very shy reserved kid.

 

[Jhye Clark 13]

I saw a lot of his old man at times in Nathan Ablett. He would have been a superstar. I'm not saying that lightly either.

 

[Gordon Farkas]

The Ablett Holy Trinity of Geelong:

The Father.

The Son.


….and The Ghost.

 

[jim boy]

And that's why I rate one of footy's all-time greats, GAJ, as, at best, only the third most talented footballer in his immediate family.

 

[Farmer2Goggin]

I saw a lot of his old man at times in Nathan Ablett. He would have been a superstar. I'm not saying that lightly either.

Imagine a 195cm version of Senior having a red hot go at it - the mind boggles......

 

[cats_09]

And that's why I rate one of footy's all-time greats, GAJ, as, at best, only the third most talented footballer in his immediate family.

Everything I heard of the under age Nathan was that he was the most talented in the family - but it was easy to see from an early age that he was shy and didn't seem the attention that some of his siblings may have enjoyed

 

[gaz love x]

And that's why I rate one of footy's all-time greats, GAJ, as, at best, only the third most talented footballer in his immediate family.

"at best"?

 

[standupand]

Nathan ablett is the mosy talented footballer to walk away from thr game in recent history.

If you look at his highlights reel from 2007 his skillset is wayne carey eske...

What i got told at the time from my family friend involved in list managemeny down there, is that he wad the laziest half arsed footballer who just clocked in and clocked out and did the bare minimum asked of him.

The reason he quit was because he had an absolute hatred of pre season training and didnt want to go thru it.

I recall sitting on a train trip with the team one time for a camp they had and we sat with nathan.. Very shy reserved kid.

I can understand someone who doesn't love training; who isn't motivated by accolades; even team success or individual success. But I have trouble understanding someone with such talent and a clear love of the game not wanting to explore the limits of that talent and that love.. So a couple of serious questions that still trouble me - 1. Is there something wrong with the culture surrounding footy in the past 20 years or so that it can't ultimately accommodate someone like Nathan? And 2. Would anyone here trade in the 09 and 11 premierships for another decade and a half of seeing the Ablett brothers play together in the hoops?

 

[Jhye Clark 13]

I can understand someone who doesn't love training; who isn't motivated by accolades; even team success or individual success. But I have trouble understanding someone with such talent and a clear love of the game not wanting to explore the limits of that talent and that love.. So a couple of serious questions that still trouble me - 1. Is there something wrong with the culture surrounding footy in the past 20 years or so that it can't ultimately accommodate someone like Nathan? And 2. Would anyone here trade in the 09 and 11 premierships for another decade and a half of seeing the Ablett brothers play together in the hoops?

Well for starters if Nathan didn't retire we'd still have 09 and 11 as premierships and probably more because Gaz wouldn't have left, so there'd be no reason to give them up in that scenario.

 

[Mad_Hatter]

Everything I heard of the under age Nathan was that he was the most talented in the family - but it was easy to see from an early age that he was shy and didn't seem the attention that some of his siblings may have enjoyed

I played against both (directly on Junior, in the vicinity of Nathan) and he was easily the most naturally gifted between the 2.
Could do things on a footy field I'd never seen before or since, and did it almost laconically, like he just didn't care enough.
Then he'd decide he didn't want to play anymore and go home half way through the third quarter...
Junior, even as a junior, had far more drive and was still a divinely talented player.

 

[BotsMaster]

Does anyone know if he regrets giving up the game?

 

[standupand]

Well for starters if Nathan didn't retire we'd still have 09 and 11 as premierships and probably more because Gaz wouldn't have left, so there'd be no reason to give them up in that scenario.

Yeah I'm with you there. But what if the club ended up taking say an extremely relaxed approach to training which kept Nathan in the game but led to a lowering of standards overall?

 

[Baudolino]

I played against both (directly on Junior, in the vicinity of Nathan) and he was easily the most naturally gifted between the 2.

That's an amazing compliment when you consider how insanely talented GAJ was. Not sure I've seen a better field kick than GAJ.