Premiership Cat Paul Chapman says Geelong must send Gary Ablett forward in 2019

Paul Chapman played in two flags with Gary Ablett. So he knows a thing or two about the Little Master. Chapman has called on his former club to break up the ‘Holy Trinity’ midfield and send Gaz forward.

Is it time for Gary Ablett to move forward? Picture: Getty Images

Triple premiership Cat Paul Chapman says Gary Ablett must spend most of his game time as a forward next year, worried the Geelong midfield plays “Russian roulette” too often.

But Chapman says Ablett will only thrive in that role if he embraces it and works on his craft as a small forward.

Cats assistant coach Corey Enright this week foreshadowed more time forward for Ablett next year after he played in attack for 44 per cent of Geelong’s last month of football.

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Chapman believes too many Cats midfielders only have attacking instincts, keen for the Geelong midfield to find a better blend of attack and defence.

Ablett still kicked 16 goals for the year and was involved in the third-most score chains of any midfielder behind Dustin Martin and Nathan Fyfe.

But when he was pushed forward in the last three rounds of the home-and-away season he kicked six goals before a poor elimination final where Geelong was trounced in a 29-point loss to Melbourne.

Is it time for Gary Ablett to move forward? Picture: Getty Images

Chapman believes the Cats are capable of a premiership surge next year but only if they tinker with their midfield set-up.

“I think something needs to change. The stats are pretty damning with the midfield. They play Russian roulette with nothing in between. They look great when they win it, but when they don’t, they get hurt.

“I see all of them being pretty attacking mids. When Danger (Patrick Dangerfield) and Gaz are in there they are ball winners who want to impact the game. Then it is left to Joel Selwood to defend.”

Enright said the Cats coaching staff had “thrown the door open” to a group of young midfielders like Brandon Parfitt, Quinton Narkle and Lachie Fogarty to increase their time in the middle.

Chapman, who kicked 366 goals in his 280 games for Geelong and Essendon, says Ablett should embrace the new opportunity.

Paul Chapman has some advice for Gary Ablett. Picture: Getty Images

“The toughest thing for Gary is to accept the role. Gaz loves to be a midfielder who is where the action is.

“He feels like he most impacts a game there. But if he (embraces it), once he does that he will work a lot harder on his craft there.

“It’s a great idea and he could even play 80 per cent forward and 20 per cent midfield depending on how the game is going.”

The Cats will reconfigure their forward line next year, hoping to bring more pressure with Gary Rohan and Luke Dahlhaus plying their trade in the forward 50.

Rohan kicked seven goals in 11 games last year and Dahlhaus managed only two goals in 17 games but at times in their careers they have been high-pressure goal-scoring half-forwards.

Cats assistant Enright said this week Geelong wasn’t shying away from the fact it was open to rejigging its midfield mix.

Gary Ablett celebrates a goal for the Cats. Picture: AAP Images

“We’ve obviously got a senior and experienced midfield group, but we’ve thrown the door open to a few of these guys to really challenge our well-established senior players in there.

“The door’s always ajar, and if they can knock them out, there’s room for them (Ablett, Patrick Dangerfield, Joel Selwood) up in the forward half.

“We just want Gary, if he plays in the front half, to be a part of that group, help us kick goals but also keep the ball up there.”