Sure, we all knew that it was going to happen.
But now that it has happened, how do we feel about it?
And with Bomber Thompson on the edge, what does this mean for Geelong in the short and long term?
Please share your thoughts.
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The move of GAJ will no doubt be good for the GCS and not so good for the GFC, but overall is it GFF?
It’s horrible. I was hoping against hope that he would stay at the Cats, like a kid hoping that Father Christmas is real.
I know there are logical, business reasons why it might work out well for the Cats in the long run (trading options, first round draft picks, salary cap pressures etc) but I remember years ago swapping my groovy old coca cola yoyo with another kid who had the latest transparent design. I was seduced by the new design, how sleek it looked, the shininess of it. After a while I just wanted my old one back simply because it worked better. It was a very poor trade. The other kid knew exactly what he was doing.
OMG – I clung to hope that he would stay and although at first upset, angry etc I have moved through the contiuum of emotions and have now gone on to acceptance, next stop I believe will be depression, which will probably take place when he runs rings around us in the Gold Coast guernsey.
Seriously – life moves on and he was always waiting for the 29th wasn’t he?
Good luck Gaz and keep going cats, we still have some old and new champion players and at the core some brilliant fans (the glory hunters can now leave)….at the very least it took the sport news away from bomber and james hird!
GO CATS!
About a year ago I wrote an article about the big issues confronting the AFL in the coming decade. No.1 on my list was the establishment of the new clubs and how essential it is that they achieve early success given the risks involved in locating them in “heathen” territory. Well, today’s announcement should have the League grinning even more than last Saturday’s draw. It’s a huge step in transforming the Gold Coast Suns from what has to date been just a marketing concept into a real live team.
That said, the traditionalist in me thinks it’s a great shame.
What does it mean for Geelong? Based on what I’ve seen, it will mean plenty in the short term. Without Ablett’s heroics, the Preliminary Final could have been one of the all-time great massacres. A great team is now looking old and tired and now has to face the future without their top gun. The silver lining could be that this forces them to refresh their list, which they might otherwise have resisted.
It’s not too late to get your original yoyo back Dips, always keep dreaming.
Respect gone for Gary Ablett.
the prelim final WAS a massacre! don’t let the 41 point margin fool you — and gazza did get plenty of it and was great……but we’ve never been a one man show
I thought Fev was the original yoyo.
Frank was known.
Gazza was suspected.
Bomber, what’s that one about?
As the saying goes, three starts to look a little careless.
Gigs, should we rename this the Cats’ Wailing Wall?
…wow he really left?
Im kinda shocked, but i guess its under$tandble.
Not surprised to hear it, although he should’ve announced it after the best and fairest night. It was always going to happen
If they brought the yo-yo’s back ( as well as mello yello) then all would be well….yes i know that mello yello and lift are the same product…..
and of course this is a wailing wall – tomorrow we’ll be back on what REALLY matters – the GF2!!!!
While my initial reaction is one of disbelief and sadness,having seen the Cats press conference, I’m reassured the club is in great hands. In April 2007, I felt I would go though life never seeing a Cats flag, let alone 2. I feel fortunate to have experienced the last few years. I’ve lived to experience Hawks fans label Cats faithful as arrogant!!!(go figure)
On sober reflection, I’m optimistic this could set the club up for the next decade. $1000000/year freed up in player salary, 2 first round draft picks(when, in the last century did we see one of those) and a coach (Kenny??) with a plan B who doesn’t need to be on suicide watch.
Go Cats!!!!
great stuff – people have short memories, at 3/4 time last year i would have sacrificed the wooden spoon for 3 years to win the flag (after seeing us lose 5 live)
like you – i loved the sentiment of the press conference – although not quite as good as gazza, st kilda have done alright without luke ball eh?
I was the one who bought that yoyo. Its chassis was OK, but its strings were frayed.
The lure of the filthy $ snares another one, a very, very big one, and that’s a real shame.
Bad luck to all Cat fans – losing a star in these circumstances always tastes pretty bad.
G.Ablett is a champion player and his status in the game is assured. However – it will be just down one notch due to his jumping ship in this manner.
But some have already forgiven him as there are recent premiership flags still fluttering around the ill-winds that are blowing these days down Geelong way.
BTW – he just looks horrible in that red jumper.
I’ll be jumping on him at 11/1 for the Charlie. He’ll carry that team and 8-9 wins should be enough for a lot of votes.
Furthermore, to all those such as Caroline Wilson at the Age & Tim “end of the empire” Lane, whose favourite emotion seems to be Schafenfreude, it’s not only the 2 flags that gives me a warm inner glow, but the style in which they were won. The Cats of 2007-10 should earn the gratitude of those who love footy as a spectacle for consigning the flood to history.
I don’t want young Gary.
Now look for Dips yo-yo, that’s the way you do it,
you play to win like the GFC.
Look at those tankers, that ain’t work’n,
we got two flags for nothing and two first round draft picks for free.
Apologies to Mark Knoffler but I can’t take it too seriously this week.
Dips,
Wonder if Ablett read your open letter.
I liked your open letter.
The ‘it’s only a game’ comment from today’s otherwise formulaic and predictable announcement (probably pencilled in for the 29th of Sep back in March) grated. It really grated.
The Gold Coast’s unerring accuracy in recruiting their targets is scary.
The rest of 2010 and 2011 will be interesting times for Geelong. Time for some renewal and steely resolve.
I reckon Geelong will come of this period of tumult in a pretty good state.
Any Geelong youngsters going to step into the number 29 guernsey?
Sheed’s is loitering next year.
I wonder who the target Pies (you could buy a lot of tats with that kinda dough and Cavill Avenue would be a great spot to show them off), Saints and others are?
My Tiger supporting brother rang me about midday to discuss the good news. He was quite up beat and noted the Tiges had not lost any one. When I explained why he lost interest in the conversation quite quickly.
Bomber has fallen on his sword to allow a quicker purge.
Anyone want to have a Chocito (my biggest bet) on the Cats not playing finals next year.
Like I said earlier, they are the Gold Coast Sons. So far, son of Gary and son of Mal. I don’t think they are going to get son of David or son of Tim but I believe that they tried.
Interestingly, Kardinia means ‘Sun Rising’ in a regional Aboriginal tongue…..
Flynny – I too hated the “its only a game” comment in Gazza’s media display. If its only a game why is there so much money involved. No, its not “only a game” its a massive business that trades on people’s emotions.
I don’t wish Gazza any ill fortune. Indeed I wish him good luck.
#14 Herri – you’re a fake. I didn’t SELL my yo yo, I traded it. Just like Gazza may have traded a good home for glitz and glammer.
Phantom – lets start the “no Choco for Catland” lobby group.
#20 – Phantom. I’ll take your Chokito and raise you a Cherry Ripe they will be there next September.
And further. When Geelong first take on the Sunsets, what are the odds on Gazza, head down, running full pelt into Chappy’s melon, resulting in the sound of billiard balls colliding echoing through the stadium. Kerraaak…
(Any schadenfreude is coincidental and not intended. While not a Cats fan, I solemnly respect the angst caused by this shock move North. It’s just the first image that popped into my frazzled brain upon reading the news)
Have you noticed the last two players to say “it’s only a game” are both earning well in excess of a million a year?
I’ll take Gazza saying “it’s only a game” every day of the week over the two Nicks being interviewed after the drawn GF describing the game as war. I felt sick to the stomach. It’s not war, not even metaphorically. And the point Gazza was making, as I understood it, was that enduring friendships were more important than the game itself. I liked that.
I wish him well. There are countless examples where a club has left a player out to dry in pursuit of the supposed holy grail. And there are more mundane trading deals done every year that ignore history and unity (I’m talking to you Hawthorn and the decision to trade young Kennedy).
Good luck to Ablett. May he go on and make history with another club.
Any team who can manage a fraction of the success enjoyed by the Geelong Football Club over the last few years will be doing well.
28. Especially if, as Colin Lane once said on an episode of Lano and Woodley “that fraction is 999/1000”.
To Gigs and the Geelong fraternity,
As a Roos supporter, I have experienced the pain of losing the best player in the league
(although in somewhat more controversial and tawdry circumstances). My advice is that
you must look on the bright side: heaps more salary-cap room, extra first-round draft
picks, the inevitable re-building for a new era.
The down-side is that each time he plays against your team, wearing his foreign colours,
a part of you will die with every boo he receives from your fellow Cat supporters. And
they WILL boo him. Often.
Harry #23.
My brother once told me that Kardinia was Aboriginal for “handbag”.
I took it on the chin.
Dips #24,
I’ve just be thinking. We could put a Knacker bid in for coaching.
Your credentials would be ok for fitness coach.
I reckon I could handle tactics.
JB chairman of selectors.
Crio; recruiting
Someone like Dave Latham for Exec. coach (very knowlegable) and perhaps we could throw Danni as the on ground Physio.
That would do. No need for Chocco and his family.
#32 Phantom – I reckon Danni would be best in a dual role; accounts (she knows a debit from and credit), and chairman of the “honesty sessions”. lol
Chairman of selectors?
I’ll take that. I’m about Balmey’s weight.
Don’t think I have his right-cross though.
Dips
With Danni as honesty co-ordinator, I’m reminded of Jack Nicholson’s line- “you can’t handle the truth!”. :)
With Danni involved we might compulsorily acquire a few good looking Pies.
From the backline…………..
Anyone going to the Cats B&F tonight?
Phantom, could I do media . . .
The Gary and Bomber situations are depressing. Whilst I dont begrudge Gary getting the money. I as a Geelong supporter dont have to like it. I also think that it will be a long time before GC Suns actually start winning. Someone mentioned 8 or 9 wins. Six players and some kids will be a long way off. I think they could all book there end of season holidays in September now for the next few years because they wont be playing finals. Their VFL Debut was anything but startling (I know they had all young kids and ex rugby players).
Gaz, it will be great to be remembered at the end of your career as the best player for the Gold Coast whipping boys. I hate to say it but if I am being honest part of me hopes it does not work out for any of them.
Bomber, I like most Geelong supporters will be happy for him if he just resigns and does his property development like he has stated he wanted to do all along. But it will be very weak if he turns up at Essendon next year after trotting out this burnout and tiredness malarkey!
David (39)
The loss of a star player always hurts, but particularly when clubs are in unequal negotiating positions.
As a Richmond fan, I remember seething when Sydney was granted special concessions by the AFL to bail them out of their mid-1990s crisis. They lured Stuey Maxfield north with an offer we couldn’t match. Worse still, they made a Grand Final the very next year. Maxfield was no Gary Ablett but he was a really important part of the Richmond team that played finals in 1995 and I loved his passionate approach to the game. I was not surprised that he went on to captain the Swans and play for many years and still wonder whether his spark might have got the Tigers into a few more finals series had we kept him.
Given that I’m recalling this painful memory 15 years on, I can only imagine how Geelong fans must feel about Ablett, knowing that their club has been powerless to retain him in the face of such a huge offer.
That said, there is at least a transparent simplicity about the Ablett move. The Gold Coast simply had to get a marquee player and everyone has their price.
It’s a stark contrast to the murky Essendon coaching saga, which reeks of club politics, marketing spin and a “whatever it takes” approach by a desperate management. I vented on this issue at the time Matthew Knights was axed and still feel very strongly about it, especially with the recent moves going on. I’ve got nothing against the individuals involved, but I really hope it all backfires big time for the club which has handled the whole affair appallingly. As you rightly say, David, Thompson will look duplicitous in the extreme if he joins the Bombers straight after his plea for a rest.