There is often one particular moment in an athlete’s career, a tipping point, where excellence gives way to transcendence, and you know you’re watching greatness.
With Rafael Nadal, for me that moment came with a forehand passing shot in the fourth set tiebreaker of the 2008 Wimbledon final. With LeBron James it was the fourth quarter of Game 6 of the 2013 Finals.
For Gary Ablett Jr, the moment came in the dying minutes of a meaningless game at Skilled Stadium in August 2007.
The Round 21 match against Port Adelaide was a dead rubber for Geelong. The Cats were riding a 15-game winning streak and had already locked up top spot on the ladder. The game had no meaning in the bigger picture, but Ablett’s brilliance gave it extraordinary meaning for a few seconds. Down by five points with two minutes to go, Ablett finds the ball in traffic in the forward 50, leaves two Port Adelaide players in the dust with an impossible dummy and has a third chasing his shadow before kicking the Cats in front.
There are very few AFL players who could kick a goal as majestic as Ablett’s. Scott Pendlebury’s brain might move fast enough, but his feet could not. Maybe Chad Wingard or Eddie Betts could do it. Therein lies the magnificence of Ablett though – that he has the awesome skill and electricity of a sparkplug small forward but the hardness, work-rate and consistency of an elite on-baller. There is grit to his glamour.
Ablett and Geelong would go on to lose that game to Port Adelaide, but they would beat them by 119 points a month later in a slightly more important game. With Gary Ablett in their team, the Cats never lost another game in Geelong.
The football world hasn’t forgotten about Gary Ablett Jr in 2015, but it’s pushed him to the side, marginalising him in favour of new, fresher endeavours. If the AFL were last year’s Oscars, Ablett has become the Gone Girl to Nat Fyfe’s Birdman.
While Fyfe’s aerial exploits are all we can talk about at the moment, less than twelve months ago Ablett was unanimously regarded as the best player in the game. To suggest otherwise was considered blasphemous first, idiotic second.
After suffering a season-ending injury in Round 16, there was legitimate discussion about whether Ablett could still win the Brownlow despite missing the last seven-and-a-half games. That’s how great his edge on the rest of the competition was.
In a sport that rushes to appoint new contenders to the throne faster than an HBO series, it’s important not to lose sight of the player Ablett was and still can be. Fyfe has been dominating the league in disposals, contested possessions and clearances for the past three months, but Ablett has been doing it for the past eight years.
Ablett’s stats since 2007 are almost laughable they’re so outrageous. They are nonsensical – a glitch in the Matrix. He’s polled at least 20 Brownlow votes each of the last eight years – Luke Hodge has never polled that amount once in his career. From 2007 to 2014, Ablett averaged 31 disposals and 1.3 goals a game, which is just 0.6 less goals per game than Travis Cloke has averaged for his career.
Ablett has never been just an accumulator though – his touches have been as damaging as anyone in the game. He’s the white swan to Dane Swan’s ugly duckling.
Over the past decade, people have whimsically posed the open question ‘imagine if Cyril Rioli averaged 25 possessions a game’. The question has already been answered though, because Gary Ablett Jr has been averaging 30+ for eight years. Ablett has that Rioli/Wingard/Alan Didak dynamism, but he has the week-to-week, in and under grinding consistency of Matt Priddis to back it up. That’s what has made Gary Ablett Jr unquestionably the best player of the 21st century.
Two Brownlow medals, five MVPs, eight All-Australian selections, five Best and Fairests, three times the leading goal-kicker of his club, and two premierships. Nobody in the new millennium can touch Ablett’s resume. Chris Judd has the best case, but as much of a champion as he was at his peak, he runs a clear second to Ablett’s sustained output and dominance.
Ablett has succeeded in every context – be it playing alongside Joel Selwood, Jimmy Bartel and Steve Johnson, or standing taller than Danny Stanley, Karmichael Hunt and Josh Toy. He’s been the best player in a grand final (2008) and the best player in countless ten-goal losses wearing orange. He became a superstar with hair, and the best player of his generation without it.
Wayne Carey is the best football player I’ve ever seen but Gary Ablett Jr is second. Carey was an Adonis, an athletic beast who was born to play AFL. Ablett has never had that supreme athletic aura – he’s more like a video game character with a rating of 100. While visually they share little in common, to me Carey and Ablett have the same defining strength – extra-terrestrial balance.
Carey was impossible to beat in one on one contests because of his gargantuan strength and balance in the upper body. Meanwhile, Ablett was someone you could never get into a one on one contest with – he was far too elusive, the best the game has ever seen at sleight of hand in traffic. Ablett’s incredibly low centre of gravity propels that prized art of side-steps and misdirection, creating impossible mazes for his opponents, leaving them to freeze to death like Jack Nicholson in The Shining.
Ablett has three years left on his contract, and there’s no indication that he’ll be leaving the game anytime soon. But football is fickle, and oftentimes as cruel as it is unexpected. Ablett is just eight months younger than Chris Judd, and potentially another shoulder injury away from never being the same player again.
So savour the little maestro while you can, because when he reappears, it won’t just be the return of a superstar captain to his fledgling team – it might be the return of the greatest player football has ever seen.
Keith
Guest
Seems like most of Ablett jnr team mates don't want to play with him. Jnr has become a selfish accumulator.
New York Hawk
Guest
He most certainly was not the best player in the 2008 grand final. As was said at the time, if his 33 touches that day were any good the Cats would have won....
Gecko
Guest
A lot of this debate hinges on whether you value physical presence (Carey's strength) or consistency (Ablett's strength). For mine, Carey lifted his team some of the time. Ablett lifts his team every game. Equally impressive is the fact that he could go to a dud team and actually improve his game there. For mine, Ablett Jnr is the equal of Leigh Matthews and shades Carey. Jay also makes a good point about how quick the media have been to give Ablett's crown to Fyfe. I expect Ablett to have that crown back by mid 2016.
michael steel
Guest
Gary Ablett Snr wasn't too bad.
Mitcher
Guest
One swallow...
Justin from Canberra
Guest
Boys, Since this is a sporting site let us keep the movie reviews to relevant forums and please not compare Cruise to Carey. Ever. No need to devalue and trivialise the subject matter. Otherwise, enjoyable discussion.
Stan McCan
Guest
Ablett best since Carey. Good article
Jay Croucher
Expert
I would go... 1. A Most Violent Year 2. Two Days, One Night 3. Under the Skin 4. Force Majeure 5. Gone Girl 6. Whiplash
marc
Guest
your taste is film is as bad as your choice of haircuts. Birdman was that bad i had to turn it off. Best flick last year was Whiplash and Under the Skin
Jay Croucher
Expert
It's a fair call Jax. Inevitably in waxing lyrical about the greats, I will talk in superlatives. Suffice to say, Carey was not actually 'impossible' to beat, much like all four of Tom Cruise's Missions were not Impossible given that each was in fact accomplished. Jako was definitely Carey's kryptonite, which I think says more about the brilliance of the West Coast CHB than it does about Carey's shortcomings. Appreciate the feedback Jax, always good to be held to high standards.
Camo McD
Roar Guru
Hazard, to say Gary was not that important to Geelong in 2007 and 2009 just because we won again in 2011 without him is incorrect. He was clearly our best player over this period and one of the few who didn't drop his standards when we lost in 08 and 10. Without his sensational game in the 2007 prelim against the pies, we wouldn't even have made the GF for example. Having seen him debut as a diminutive 17 year old being jeered every time he went near the ball by Bomber fans, to him now belonging in these types of debates is amazing. His versatility as a genuinely damaging forward puts him up there ahead of most other midfielders. And when he's BOG virtually every week that makes him a match winner in my book. One correction I would make to the headline, it should be 'The best since Ablett: Gary Ablett Jr in perspective.' I reckon he might even have Carey covered now but of the best players I've seen: Ablett, Ablett, Lockett and Carey, you could probably put them in any order and still be pretty happy.
jax
Guest
Surely you can't have a conversation about Carey without been reminded of Jako can you? I was simply reminding people that might have forgotten. Jako is a legend that marginally took the points against a guy that some call the greatest player ever and he deserves to be recognised. I'm just paying respect to a great player and his career. I added Gary Snr to the discussion as well so it's not just WC that I talk about even though they will always dominate my comments. I can give credit to any player or team. Just like SoS has to be remembered when you talk about Plugger, Dunstall and Ablett. If someone else had done what Jako did to Carey I would have mentioned them also but I couldn't think of anyone that came close to beating Carey or causing him headaches as often as Jako can you? Jay wrote an excellent article (as usual) but that was an error/oversight and I will continue to comment on errors and omissions if I want to. That sentence did not pay due respect to Jako and WC so that's where I come in whether you like it or not, agree or disagree, it really doesn't matter. I will call it as I see it. I'm a passionate WC fan and I make no apologies for bringing them into the conversation. The media get it wrong or overlook them more than enough already so my little comments shouldn't be a concern to anyone. You might even learn something. I add balance to the conversation and I am right more often than I am wrong and I'm pretty consistent in my comments to boot so crucify me. I might continue to remind people when I see an error and I will not be replying to comments very often as I rarely read them anyway. I will just say what needs to be said and leave it at for the most part. I've given up debating idiots. Not calling you one Dylan but we have our fair share of them on here. I'll let time be the judge.
mattyb
Guest
Pretty fair reference though DylanC.
Brian
Guest
Gone Girl much better then Birdman for me. Though I am just passed 5 years married :). Its unfortunate Ablett didn't shine so much in those GF even though he was a crucial team player to Geelong winning 2. I rate him above Judd for consistency. Judd fell away quickly when you consider Hodge was in the same draft. Carey, Ablett, Judd for me though Fyfe is special. Will have to wait and see where he fits into things.
DylanC
Roar Rookie
Couldn’t help yourself but to make yet another WC reference?
Jay Croucher
Expert
Not only is it incredible that they won Marty, but I think that the 2011 Geelong team was actually the best Geelong team of that era. That 2011 Collingwood team was quietly one of the most dominant teams we've ever seen (I think their percentage was over 180 heading into the final round) and they only lost three times that season - all to Geelong.
Jay Croucher
Expert
I can definitely sympathise with criticisms about Babel and 21 Grams in regards to over-seriousness, although they resonated with me. I really like Birdman, but the problem for me is that I think Norton is the best thing about it. When he gets marginalised in the film's second half, my interest was marginalised with it. I feel like dream sequences in film and TV are like blind kicks into the corridor - potentially brilliant (American Beauty, The Big Lebowski) but also fraught with peril (The Sopranos, for me). Didn't work for me in Birdman. I often enjoy when films veer off into ridiculousness in their final act, so long as it's consistent with the film's message. I thought The Departed worked well like that. Gone Girl works for me on the same level, and I think the insanity encapsulates the film's message... that men and women do incredibly evil, malicious things to each other, but these evils aren't irrevocable - they can be endured. Anyway, Gary Ablett Jr. - good football player.
jax
Guest
"Carey was impossible to beat in one on one contests because of his gargantuan strength and balance in the upper body." Glen Jackovich did it quite regularly. Marginally (and arguably) taking the points across all of their battles combined. Ablett Jnr (and Snr) and Carey have been superstars of the game. I hope Gazza gets back to his best.
Cameron Rose
Expert
I wonder if Babel and 21 Grams didn't drown in their own seriousness, although I haven't seen either since the cinema, it must be said. Birdman felt like the perfect offspring of Get Shorty and The Royal Tenenbaums, both of which I've loved for so many years. Pitch-perfect performances and sharply comic dialogue, not a false note among any of it. That said, the Gone Girl cast was sensational as well, Affleck underrated. But his truest strength is as a director. You didn't feel the last quarter of so of Gone Girl loses all momentum, veering into the ridiculous? Same with the book for mine, and they both suffer badly for it IMO. I think I assumed dream sequence for the Birdman ending, but look forward to re-visiting on DVD soon enough.
MickyC
Guest
I remember Carey being able to bust open games but there's no denying Ablett has been a better for longer. If Leigh Matthews is the best player of the 20th Century then GA Jnr is the only real candidate for that honour in the 21st.