Geelong coach Chris Scott says preliminary final can’t be all about extending Gary Ablett’s career
As football fans prepare to possibly farewell one of the game’s all-time greats, Geelong has warned its preliminary final against Brisbane Lions can’t turn into a Gary Ablett testimonial.
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Geelong will resist the urge to put Gary Ablett and his legendary career on a pedestal as the wisdom of the great Allan Jeans filters from the 1980s Hawks down to the Cats.
Ablett, 36, has either one or two games left and is hoping to cap one of the game’s most decorated careers with a third premiership medallion.
It would be a fairytale finish for Ablett, who warmed up for the finals in quarantine after leaving Geelong’s hub as one-year-old son Levi battles a degenerative disease and his mother-in-law, Trudy, died from lung cancer.
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But Cats coach Chris Scott said that being just two wins away from the ultimate prize shouldn’t be underestimated by any player, regardless of their birth certificate.
“It’s hard to get these opportunities, and it does come with some pain — there’s a cost to it all,” Scott said.
“So whether it’s potentially the last game of your career, or you’re a younger player or coach who thinks you’ve got plenty of time.
“My great coach (Leigh Matthews) said what his great coach (Jeans) said to him — it’s always later than you think.
“So for us to prioritise one person who we know is going to finish at the end of the year over others, who might not have quite as long as they think they have, I think would be a mistake.”
In the next 24 hours Patrick Dangerfield will sit down with forwards coach Corey Enright and decide whether how much of the preliminary final he should spend in attack.
The Cats’ best players are considered experts and they have been empowered to help determine their weekly roles.
“If they really want something they tend to get it, unless there’s a really important structural issue that the team prioritises,” Scott said.
“Tom Hawkins gets a say in (Dangerfield), and after we sort of set up a planning process it’s a matter of reading the game and trying to work out where he’s best-suited.”
Dangerfield started Saturday night’s semi-final at true centre half-forward and spent 86 per cent of the match in attack.
It was another best-afield performance as the megastar, who is 0-4 in preliminary finals, booted four goals and registered 162 SuperCoach points.
The Cats produced a 9.3 (57) to one rushed behind blitz against preliminary final opponent Brisbane in Round 6.
They lost Mitch Duncan and Quinton Narkle to injury in the first five minutes, and then fell 22 points behind, before monstering the Lions at the coalface.
The Lions lost contested ball by 20 as the Cats prevailed by 27 points at the SCG.
“We were under all sorts of pressure midway through the second quarter, and really turned it on in the third quarter around the ball,” Scott said.
“Even listening to Fages in the post-match he just said our contested guys got on top of them around the ball, and they would learn from that.
“If that was the impetus, certainly they’ve played good footy in the second half of the year.”
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