Cats’ tough call: Does Geelong bring Gary Ablett Jnr straight into the action after long absence?
Geelong is weighing up whether to bring Gary Ablett Jnr back into the starting 22, despite the Little Master having very little opportunity to train with the main group after completing his quarantine.
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Geelong will play Gary Ablett in Round 18 off only one or two training sessions as he prepares to enter hublife with training partner Andrew Mackie on Tuesday.
Ablett and his good mate will fly up to the Gold Coast Mercure on Tuesday afternoon for a 14-day quarantine period after a huge training block in Geelong.
Coach Chris Scott admitted the club had to see how Ablett had pulled up but said yesterday his plan was to throw his star into the action in his only warm-up games before finals.
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The Gold Coast Mercure has a grass field that is approximately 50m wide and 80m long, easily big enough for Richmond’s Bachar Houli to complete fitness and football sessions during his quarantine period.
The Tigers chose to rest Houli for the first game he was available so he could get more training under his belt, but the Cats have no such luxuries.
Ablett would come out of quarantine on the Tuesday night before a Round 18 clash against Sydney – with the date set to be locked in this week – train and then play.
That game will be his first contest in nine weeks after returning to Geelong to take care of son Levi with wife Jordan.
“It’s a long way out so we would need to wait a little bit on how he’s going and how the team is going, but at face value we would probably play him. It’s fair to say that’s the plan at the moment,” Scott told Nine.
Essendon legend Matthew Lloyd said on 3AW radio Ablett was not an automatic selection for the Cats first-up given their forward line’s impressive form.
And while Patrick Dangerfield acknowledged that challenge in integrating Ablett, he said there was a reason he was the greatest of all time.
“I dare say it’s a conversation we will have at some stage,” he said
“The competition is hard enough when you are well prepared versus coming in off no games.
“That will be the challenge for us at the moment to make sure he is as match fit as he can be without playing games and it’s a really difficult one because the only way to do it is to play and that being said he’s the ‘GOAT’ for a reason.
“He and we will give him every chance but it’s a real balance with the team dynamic and making sure every decision is made for the betterment of the team and the position we are in.”
Ablett has been completing monster sessions with Mackie in Geelong and is confident he can quickly hit the ground running.
He had kicked only six goals in seven games averaging 16 possessions for the year but was averaging 4.7 score involvements and 1.1 direct score assist.
WHO IS ON FINAL FOOTY FLIGHT TO QUEENSLAND HUB?
— Sam Landsberger, Gilbert Gardiner
The last of the AFL cavalry will exit Victoria on Tuesday with three chartered flights booked to transport 400 footy folk to the Gold Coast.
First on the plane will be AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan and his family as the league prepares to play an entire finals series out of Melbourne for the first time in history.
Geelong champion Gary Ablett and Richmond superstar Shane Edwards will be on the plane after their joint request to travel in August was denied.
Injured St Kilda pair Dan Hannebery and Jade Gresham will be joined by long-time Saints physio Andrew Wallis, who will monitor their rehabilitation in quarantine.
Saints football operations assistant Jarryd Roughead will also be on the flight.
The AFL’s 400 guests will spend 14 days in quarantine at Gold Coast’s Mercure Resort, known as Transition Hub 3, where they must abide by the league’s protocols.
They all must test negative for COVID-19 before departing and secure a lift to the airport with someone from their household or a family member.
An AFL Commission meeting is locked in for next week, which will decide the location for the Grand Final — set to be staged on October 24, after the running of the 100th Cox Plate.
Moonee Valley Racing Club chief executive Michael Browell has spoken to the AFL, Channel 7 and Racing Victoria about his preference for the Grand Final to start after 7pm.
“We want to own that timeslot from noon … through to 5pm or 6pm,” Browell said.
“We’re certainly not supportive of a Grand Final starting before 5pm, sitting right on top of the Cox Plate.
“The Cox Plate would be run sometime from 4pm and 5pm.”
Four states have lodged bids to host the Grand Final with Queensland holding favouritism ahead of Western Australia.
Western Bulldogs, North Melbourne and Carlton started their Queensland journeys at the Mercure.
Ablett, Edwards, Hannebery and Gresham will have priority access to the hotel pool and gymnasium during quarantine as they tune-up for finals.
They will be free to join their clubs in the lead-up to Round 18, giving them another three weeks to prepare for finals.
Collingwood president Eddie McGuire and AFL Players’ Association boss Paul Marsh also have seats booked on the AFL’s last flights out of Melbourne.
Magpies superstar Steele Sidebottom returned to Melbourne this week for the birth of his first child, which is due mid-September. The Magpies are confident they can fly him back for finals after the baby arrives.
Most clubs already have their full squads and support staff in their hubs.
Carlton youngster Liam Stocker (mental health) flew back to Melbourne in mid-July and has decided to remain at home with his parents, despite the Blues’ push for finals.
A host of AFL heavyweights, including executives Brian Walsh (corporate affairs) and Kylie Rogers (commercial and customer), are also locked in for the trip north.
The AFL will send up its media operations team and broadcast teams, but not talents such as Channel 7 commentator Brian Taylor.
The league will also fly up a dozen journalists to cover the finals series, with TV reporters Mark Stevens (Channel 7), Alicia Muling (Channel 9), Tom Morris (Fox Footy) getting the call up, along with two writers from The Age and the Herald Sun.
Corporate sponsors and umpires will also head up.
West Coast jetted east on Tuesday and will be joined by Fremantle and Greater Western Sydney next week.
That will see 15 clubs based in Queensland, pushing the total number of footy people in the sunshine state towards 2000.
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Originally published as Cats’ tough call: Does Geelong bring Gary Ablett Jnr straight into the action after long absence?
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