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Gold Coast minus Gary Ablett equals GWS

28th July, 2014
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Expert
28th July, 2014
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The Gold Coast Suns without Gary Ablett are basically just GWS. The only surprise is that this wasn’t as obvious as the false outrage that was always going to occur after Tyrone Vickery gave Dean Cox his comeuppance.

Cox started something, and Vickery ended it. That’s all she wrote.

But I digress…

Football is a team game. We know that. But you can’t just take a player who is at the pointy end of the conversation about the best man to ever play the sport out of a side like the Suns and expect them to go on their merry way.

It’s always bemusing after a Gold Coast win to hear things like “the Suns are more than just Gary Ablett”. No they’re not. They’re less. Much, much less.

It’s not just Ablett’s 35 touches that Gold Coast are missing, it’s the next 30 that his side get from them, almost always in a beautiful position to move the team forward.

More than the disposals, it’s his balance and poise that are also gone, his vision and judgement, his decision making and skill.

The flow-on effect from removing Ablett from the side can’t be quantified, except by what we’re seeing on the scoreboard.

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When he wins the ball at a stoppage situation, he draws two and three opposition players to him, along with the tagger already hanging off his back. Because of his strength through the core, he is rarely caught holding the ball, and with no so much attention on him, he has free teammates in the clear.

Watch Gary Ablett the next time he is swung in a tackle. It’s almost like he wants it, letting the tackler take him to where he wants to release the ball.

Since Ablett’s injury, how often have we seen Suns players just bang the ball on the boot out of a stoppage, a panic ball, even when they’ve got time? Fellow midfielders can run forward with confidence when Ablett’s there, knowing he’ll find a man in space, who can then release it to them for a kick inside 50 or a shot at goal.

Forwards can lead early, either getting separation from their defender for a lead to be honoured, or pushing out to clear space behind them for another teammate to run into.

Ablett also covers so much ground, he is a spare man in defence to help his backmen out. Sometimes it’s just for a cheap handball out the back, for which he is often criticised, but it’s better to have that option than not, especially as he is always looking to be creative.

Now the same backman may be forced just to kick down the line, which an opposition always wants.

All three areas of the ground miss the little champ.

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Now it’s time for the heat to go on Guy McKenna. He must be questioned on how he has prepared his players without Ablett’s coattails to ride on.

As an educated football mind put to me on Twitter on Saturday, there’s no shame in the Suns badly missing, at least, the best player of a generation. But there is shame is not acknowledging their shortfalls without him.

If the vast array of talented Suns were getting a bit ahead of themselves, this should be a valuable lesson to them. If taken the right way, this will make them stronger, hungrier, and just plain better footballers.

They are not what they thought they were. But this doesn’t mean they can’t still be on track to where they want to go.

The Gold Coast Suns without Gary Ablett are just another bottom-four side.

But his absence today may help propel them up the ladder tomorrow, more than his presence now ever could.

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