Gary Ablett’s latest hamstring injury means Geelong must assess how to best use ageing champ
CHRIS Scott says Geelong will have to adapt after Gary Ablett suffered another hamstring injury — and a former teammate has urged the club to “play smart” with the champion midfielder.
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CHRIS Scott says Geelong will have to adapt after Gary Ablett suffered his second hamstring injury since joining the Cats.
The Cats are licking their wounds after their heartbreaking loss to West Coast on Sunday was compounded by injuries to Ablett, Cam Guthrie and exciting youngster Nakia Cockatoo.
Scott was reluctant to speculate how long Ablett would miss with his latest blow.
“We know he’ll miss this week,” Scott told Fox Footy on Monday night.
“I know it’s a bit frustrating for people when we don’t give a really specific outlook, but in general that’s a guess anyway.
“We can afford to take our time, knowing that there’s no pressure to try to get him up for this week ... we’ll work through that process.”
Asked if the Cats had considered resting Ablett for the trip west off the back of a six-day break, Scott replied: “Not really.
“Especially given it was so early in the season and he’d only played the two games for us and was in good shape. And it’s very rare that that early in the season that the coaching staff would overrule the medical staff and just be really conservative.”
The latest setback means Ablett, cruelled by injury over his final seasons with Gold Coast, will again miss a chunk of football after the Cats had hoped his fitness issues were in the rearview mirror.
Scott indicated the fresh injury might mean the club would need to reassess how to best use the two-time Brownlow medallist.
“He (Ablett) was also open to the fact that we needed to be agile and if things changed, he’d be willing to adapt,” Scott said.
“I think the obvious answer is we need to adapt based on the fact that he’s had a couple of hammies in his short time with us.”
Scott’s words come as Ablett’s former teammate Paul Chapman urged Geelong to “play smart” with the champ by lessening his playing load in the midfield.
Chapman, a dual Premiership teammate of Ablett in 2007-2009, admitted to surprise at the amount of time Ablett has spent around the ball in the opening three rounds.
“In particular the Hawthorn game in Rd 2 when he spent 91 per cent of game time on the ball. Obviously he’s had a great pre-season so he’s got the load into his legs but they have to play him smarter,” said Chapman, 36.
“He can’t be playing 91 per cent of game time in the midfield when he’s about to turn 34. It was better against West Coast when he seemed to play off the back of the square at times, but Gaz is someone who wants to be in the action so they have to protect him from himself.
“The scary thing for me is when Gaz got injured and did his shoulder, he carried it for two years and he isn’t a player who handles playing under duress.
“So what’s he going to be like when he comes back from his hamstring injury? The worst thing you can do is play with fear that you will do a hamstring when you try and take the game on by bursting out of a pack.
“I’ve been there and it’s not a good feeling, but it’s human nature to protect yourself a little bit. It’s definitely a worry.”
Respected long-time sports medico Dr Peter Larkins believes 13-14 good games out of Ablett in 2018 was always going to be a bonus for Geelong.
“If you look at the data, with older players and soft tissue injuries the graph rises after 25 years of age. In pre-season I said he was one calf away from not playing Rd 1. OK, it was a hamstring but the odds were high that at his age either a calf or hamstring would catch up with him,” said Larkins.
Nathan Buckley had never had hamstring troubles in his life until he turned 34-35 in his last year of 2007 and could only play five games for the year. And recovery is slower once you are over 25.
“Gelong is well known for not rushing players back too quickly and will be conservative with Gary (Ablett). If his injury is better than a three-week return then I will be surprised. Because if he does it again when he comes back, then it becomes a six-eight week injury.”
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Originally published as Gary Ablett’s latest hamstring injury means Geelong must assess how to best use ageing champ
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