Stats reveal Gary Ablett is on the wane

Official AFL Player Ratings have revealed GaryAblett is on the slide.

Gary Ablett has experienced a dip in output from his stellar Suns seasons

When Gary Ablett Jr returned as a prodigal son to Geelong this season, there were always going to be queries over whether the 34-year-old could maintain his dominance.

As the season reaches its halfway point, the numbers don’t look good. As Ablett prepares for a return to the Gold Coast this weekend for his first match against the club he captained, a detailed statistical analysis has identified Ablett as the player who has suffered the greatest dip in output this season.

According to the Official AFL Player Ratings, Ablett has fallen 7.3 points from what he produced in his final year on the Gold Coast.

The ratings are based around three main components: how a player wins the football, with a premium placed on earning it in a contest. They also assesses how the player uses the Sherrin and what they do with it.

A player will receive more points if he is able to put his side in a better position on the field. A goal or score assist are of obvious benefit, while a turnover that leads directly to a goal for the opposition will hinder a player’s rating.

Ablett is obviously a victim of his own excellence. Given the heights he has scaled, any decline will be more obvious.

The dual-Brownlow Medallist is still gathering 30 disposals a game and averaging more marks in 2018 than he has this decade. This is despite suffering a hamstring injury in the pre-season and another tweak recently which have restricted the superstar to six matches.

And a change of role is also a factor, with the dual-premiership Cat no longer the sole driving force out of the midfield in a strong Geelong team that features fellow champions Joel Selwood and Patrick Dangerfield, among others.

But the Official Player Ratings lend weight to recent criticism from pundits including Garry Lyon, who wondered whether the “Holy Trinity” midfield was working as well as the Cats would have hoped.

And Geelong coach Chris Scott said recently he is still figuring out how best to deploy the five-time AFL Most Valuable Player.

“It’s a decision in progress. We had some ideas coming in and watching him in the pre-season made us a little firmer on some ideas and we moved away from others,” Scott said on Fox Footy’s AFL 360.

“He’s had an affected pre-season with his hamstring and in-season, so we’re not exactly sure where he’s going to play.

“How well he plays, in part, will dictate exactly where he plays.”

Premiership Tiger Josh Caddy has lifted his rating the most this season and is proving a valuable recruit for Richmond.

Excelling at his third club after stints with the Gold Coast and Geelong, the former first-round draftee booted six goals in a matchwinning performance against St Kilda last Saturday.

Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy, considered leading rivals alongside Nic Naitanui to be All Australian ruckmen in 2018, are also enjoying excellent seasons.

Those struggling to recapture their best form include stars such as Joe Daniher and Daniel Hannebery.

This is understandable given the pair carried injuries for a period before being sidelined.

Saint Tim Membrey’s struggle for accuracy this season is the reason he rates among the top 10 players whose output has dipped the most this year.