Gary Ablett inspires Geelong to victory in performance reminiscent of his dad, writes Mark Robinson
Gary Ablett was on the receiving end of a booing overload but that didn’t stop Gaz from taking the mark of the day and kicking an outrageous goal that was reminiscent of his old man, writes MARK ROBINSON.
Mark Robinson
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What’s new is old in footy, but some aspects never change.
Such as experience and smarts and bravery, such as the Harry Taylor shuffle, Gary Rohan’s moments, Joel Selwood’s persistence and, of course Gary Ablett’s genius.
And such as booing by opposition fans
Ablett was superb on and although he has been on the receiving end of a vitriolic crowd in other periods of his career, Easter Monday was booing overload for the Cats champ.
Maybe it was because it was Gaz and because he’s was so influential.
Maybe it was because fans didn’t like his recent social media form.
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When he marked the ball in the final minute of Monday’s game and was widely cheered by Geelong fans, normal transmission had resumed.
He’s had more touches, and kicked more goals in games for the Cats, but this was vintage genius.
He took the mark of the day and arguably the goal of the day in the second quarter.
The mark was plumb for him. The ball sat up, the Hawks player was perched and Gazza leisurely sat on his shoulder.
The goal was far better. Reminiscent of his old man who kicked a goal with the outside of the boot in the same pocket against Essendon way back in 1993, Ablett did the same to give the Cats their first serious control of the game.
Gaz Snr went high with his kick, Gazza Jnr went low with his — and the result was the same.
Geelong had many contributors in their 23-point win over the Hawks, and few were more influential than the golden oldies.
Midfielder Tim Kelly will likely get votes again, young defender Mark O’Connor was super in the back six, yet this game will be remembered for Gazza's goals and Rohan’s goals.
Their brace in first and second quarters were morale-sapping for the Hawks.
The Hawks led 11 points at the 26th minute of the first quarter, before Rohan kicked two goals in the 30 seconds before the siren.
The first came after a mark in the pocket, the next after reading a wonky kick toff the boot of Patrick Dangerfield in the middle.
Not for the first time, Rohan’s speed and smarts caught out the opposition, and it can’t be underestimated how much oomph that gave the Cats at the break.
Selwood was crucial to Geelong’s response after quarter-time.
The skipper started the game on the wing beside Ricky Henderson. By the end, Selwood and Henderson both had 30-plus possessions.
They weren’t opposed to each other for all the match but they were always in the vicinity of the ball.
It’s fair to say the Cats wouldn’t have won without Selwood, and the Hawks wouldn’t have got so close without Henderson.
Taylor’s been a revelation this season.
He couldn’t walk to his fridge for much of last year because of injury and on Monday roamed from deep defence to inside his team’s 50m forward zone, not because of any set instruction, from the coach, but because of his own instinct to push up the ground.
One moment he was running to be an option inside 50m, and contesting the mark, the next he was shuffling as fast as his 32-year-old legs could take him back to defend.
One play on the southern stand wing, when he dribbled the ball to Tom Atkins, got it back by hand, and then kicked the ball to Luke Dahlhaus, who kicked it to Rhys Stanley who kicked the goal, was Taylor assessing the moment.
If he picked the ball up, he would have been tackled. He didn’t and the Cats kicked the goal.
Geelong’s ascendancy was grounded out in the middle two quarters when it kicked 11 goals to Hawthorn’s six. The final margin was 25 points.
The Cats had more winners individually, and they owned more moments collectively.
The Hawks were missing as many as six of their best 18 players, so a four-goal margin was solid result, although can there be gallantry in every defeat?
They got the margin back to eight points early in the third quarter but another brace from Rohan, a goal to Kelly and another on the siren from Ablett killed this contest.
The Ablett goal, kicked 20 seconds before the siren, started with Taylor winning the ball across half-back, Selwood then won a 50-50 contest on the wing, and Ablett received the handball, ran through 50m and guided through his third.
The Cats sit on the top of the table and the Hawks are 13th with a 2-3 record and face the Blues this week.
Suddenly that game in Launceston is huge.
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