Many players can put their hand up to be the Greatest of All Time in Australian football. So, in the hundred plus years that the AFL has operated, which players truly deserve the title of GOAT?
One of the front-runners in this debate surely must be Gary Ablett Jr.
Ablett, the son of another GOAT candidate, Gary Ablett Sr, and a member of the legendary Ablett Family. His resume of awards is impressive to say the least. He was a two-time premiership player, two-time Brownlow medallist, five-time AFL MVP, and eight-time All Australian. The premierships are certainly something that separates Ablett Jr from his father, who failed to win a single premiership in his illustrious career, despite playing alongside multiple great players in a strong Geelong side.
It could also be said that Ablett sacrificed the chance of greater team success when he walked away from Geelong in 2011 to join the newly formed Gold Coast Suns. Despite Ablett never taking the Suns to a final in his many years as captain, the two-time Brownlow medallist did his utmost to carry the team on his back, winning one of his Brownlows in a season that the Suns only won eight games.
Over his 19 seasons in the league, Ablett averaged roughly 25 possessions per game, an average hampered by the fact that he started as a small forward, as opposed to the midfield where he would spend most of his career. Even as a midfielder, Ablett was able to find the scoreboard on a frequent basis, averaging over a goal a game for his career, peaking at 1.8 goals per game in his 2010 season with Geelong.
Many will point out that a lot of Ablett’s success came at Geelong where he was able to play alongside fellow talented Geelong legends in Joel Selwood, Cameron Ling, Jimmy Bartel, Steve Johnson, and Tom Hawkins, but while those players all helped contribute to his success, none of them were there when Ablett moved to the Gold Coast where he frequently averaged well over 30 possessions a game when the team was regularly losing by ten-goal margins.
Specifically, at the Gold Coast, Ablett took the team from a three-win side in their first season in the AFL and led them to a ten-win season in 2014, their best result to-date. Ablett may have been able to build on this success, but unfortunately for both him and the Suns, his final two years were hampered due to injury.
Despite his injuries and a significant loss of form after being traded back to Geelong after a few tumultuous years in the Gold Coast, Ablett managed to rediscover some of the form that made him a legend in his first stint at the Cats.
Many would say that Ablett has two advantages when it comes to the GOAT debate. The first is the fact that Ablett spent a significant part of his career in the midfield, which meant that his stat-line was always going to be padded by high disposal numbers as he was constantly around the ball, as opposed to forwards and defenders, who would only see the ball half as often. Midfielders also tend to attract more awards, specifically the Brownlow Medal. The medal, which is supposed to be won by the best and fairest player in the league, has been dominated by midfielders to such an extent that the last non-midfield player to win the award was Scott Wynd back in 1992.
This is the opposite for other contenders, including Ablett’s father and namesake Gary Ablett Sr, who spent the start of his career as a midfielder before truly establishing himself as one of the most mercurial forwards the game has ever seen.
Gary Jr, having finished his career in 2020, also has the advantage of recency bias. The fact that almost every football fan around today will have watched Ablett’s career can attest first-hand to how good he was as a footballer, and the fact that modern playing standards always eclipse historic abilities, does seem to favour modern players in these conversations, much like the debate in the United States over whether Michael Jordan is a better player than a Lebron James.
Performances of Note
Gold Coast versus Collingwood, Round 10, 2012
In a side that lost by 97 points, Ablett was Gold Coast’s everywhere man, wracking up 53 possessions with 31 kicks and 22 handballs, tallying a total over 900 meters gained, almost double the next highest player on the ground. The mark equalled the record set by the legendary Greg Williams in 1989, and was eventually passed in 2018 by Hawthorn’s Tom Mitchell who recorded a 54 possession game, which also occurred against Collingwood.
Geelong versus Sydney, Round 5, 2008
Ablett had already established himself as a star as a part of Geelong’s 2007 drought-breaking premiership side. However, he looked to roll over his success of 2007 into the 2008 season, and seemed well on his way to do so when the Cats played the Swans early in the season. On the day, Ablett racked up 35 possessions, with 20 kicks and 15 handballs, and laying 5 tackles and kicking 3 goals. Unsurprisingly, he garnered three votes for his efforts in the game on Brownlow night, where he finished equal third, two points behind winner Adam Cooney.
Gold Coast versus Adelaide, Round 8, 2011
Another example of Ablett Jr’s valiant effort to put the entire Suns team on his back and carry them over the line. Ablett started the game on fire, kicking the three of the first four goals as the Suns jumped out to an early lead. Unfortunately, the young and inexperienced Suns eventually fell away to the Crows, losing by 57 points. During the game, Ablett kicked four goals, played out of the middle, racking up 41 disposals, and won 13 clearances. Ablett also laid a monstrous eight tackles in the game.
