Ablett equal to Matthew says Mike Sheahan.

[EZA100]

Do you agree with what Sheahan said, and where would you rank Ablett in a rankings of all time greats. I think he would go atleast top 10.

[ossie85]

Really hard to compare players across eras!

For instance, in this professional age, the 100th best player now would likely be better than the 1st ranked player from 80 years ago.


But Ablett's consistently crazy good results, 2 flags, a Brownlow, MVPs, best and fairests, captains....

... Yeah, he could very well be the best ever. BUT is always going to be subjective. Maybe Jaeger O'Meara will pass him! Or Oscar Judd.

[EZA100]

I do agree with you but to keep such great consistency throughout his last couple of years and the accolades to back it up in my opinion i would see him as currently a top 10 player of all time.

[Ziplock]

whether he's the best ever will probably come down to how long he can keep it up for now :P

[ossie85]

whether he's the best ever will probably come down to how long he can keep it up for now :P

This is his 7th year of being in at least the top 1-3 players in the comp. John Coleman only played 98 games!

[ADEZ]

I agree, in a few years (and a few more Brownlows, B&F and MVP), once Swallow, Bennell, Prestia, Russell, Hall, Martin and Shaw are blending well, will go forward for a few years and chuck a few colemans in his trophy cabinet  ;)

[tbagrocks]

Don't know any of the spuds prior 1991 but GAJ is as good as I've seen

[AFEV]

whether he's the best ever will probably come down to how long he can keep it up for now :P

This is his 7th year of being in at least the top 1-3 players in the comp. John Coleman only played 98 games!

Leigh Matthews was in the top handful of players in the competition for the majority of his career. GAJ was a very average player from 2002-2007, where as Leigh won 3 B&Fs in his first 4 seasons, so Ablett is playing catch up and will have to maintain this level for some time yet.
Lethal did things like kicking 92 goals in a season playing as a rover that I don't think Ablett will ever approach. Perhaps that sort of domination isn't possible in the professional era, but that is another argument.

Honestly I do think GAJ is great, but I don't think he warrants these comparisons just yet, what makes him better than even a recent great like Diesel Williams?

That's not even to mention players like Reynolds, Bunton Jnr, Skilton, Whitten, Stewart and of course the great KPPs like Regan, Robran and Farmer.

Sometimes I think people are just woefully ignorant as to the history of our game, some players did some crazy things. He wouldn't be in my top 10.

[EZA100]

whether he's the best ever will probably come down to how long he can keep it up for now :P

This is his 7th year of being in at least the top 1-3 players in the comp. John Coleman only played 98 games!

Leigh Matthews was in the top handful of players in the competition for the majority of his career. GAJ was a very average player from 2002-2007, where as Leigh won 3 B&Fs in his first 4 seasons, so Ablett is playing catch up and will have to maintain this level for some time yet.
Lethal did things like kicking 92 goals in a season playing as a rover that I don't think Ablett will ever approach. Perhaps that sort of domination isn't possible in the professional era, but that is another argument.

Honestly I do think GAJ is great, but I don't think he warrants these comparisons just yet, what makes him better than even a recent great like Diesel Williams?

That's not even to mention players like Reynolds, Bunton Jnr, Skilton, Whitten, Stewart and of course the great KPPs like Regan, Robran and Farmer.

Sometimes I think people are just woefully ignorant as to the history of our game, some players did some crazy things. He wouldn't be in my top 10.

I do agree with your argument their has been some amazing things done by some amazing players and i think their is many players including Ablett that could be in a discussion of a top 10 ranking. I also do think that maybe the domination might not be as easy in the professional era due to the immense change in the game that we watch today with all the different tactical ways the game is played.

[Ringo]

I think we get into dangerous grounds when comparing players to players of different eras. In this case Matthews was probably the best player of the 70's and 80's whereas Ablett is possibly the best player of the 2000 and 2010 but that will raise conjecture as well.  Is Ablett a better player than Voss, Buckley or Hird.  We can go on and on but makes for interesting discussion.

[AFEV]

I think we get into dangerous grounds when comparing players to players of different eras. In this case Matthews was probably the best player of the 70's and 80's whereas Ablett is possibly the best player of the 2000 and 2010 but that will raise conjecture as well.  Is Ablett a better player than Voss, Buckley or Hird.  We can go on and on but makes for interesting discussion.

It's an intersting question. With most players, you see them have standout traits that make them great. With Ablett, he is sort of just..good at everything. Not exceptional at much, but hasn't got a weakness.

I would say each of the 3 named were better leaders than Gary, and each had at least 1 quality far ahead of that of Ablett. Difficult to say which is better.

Here's a question - Can Ablett go beyond Kouta Circa 2000? Has he already?

[ossie85]

Imo kouta should never be in these conversations about best players ever. He was not brilliant for sustained periods and was a little unfulfilled for potential. Injuries hurt him

[Capper]

I cant remember the exact quote, but Malcolm Blight came out and said something like
"GAJ has played the best 2 and a half years of footy that he has seen a player play"

[AFEV]

Imo kouta should never be in these conversations about best players ever. He was not brilliant for sustained periods and was a little unfulfilled for potential. Injuries hurt him

I'm not saying for his whole career, used 2000 as it is often referenced as (one of) the most dominant seasons of football by a single player.

[Justin Bieber]

He's pretty damn goof isn't he.