Luke Ablett: is there a psychologist in the house?

[SimonH]

Article today in SMH

"[At] a lot of the other clubs that are really skilful and fast, I probably wouldn't get a game because I'm a bit slow and I haven't got the best skills."

Name one other 50-game player going around in the AFL who would say that. (Leaving aside the unfortunate implication that Sydney are neither skilful nor fast.) Could we arrange some self-esteem classes for NOG? If we really had lost the GF, the poor guy would be on suicide watch.

Ross Lyon reckons he "probably underrates himself a little bit". Isn't that sweet of him?

[hammo]

Clearly the Roos 'we are less talented, we have no stars' mantra has taken effect

[S.U.D]

Do NOG and Benny look alike? Maybe the journalist quoted the wrong person!!!!

[BAM_BAM]

in all seriousness he may feel he has to live up to the Ablett name and in doing so it may be a heavy burden for Luke. or the spin doctors now have the players on the payroll too.

[NMWBloods]

Well... he's not that quick.

As for skills, you do see good ones in passing, but they're not a big feature of his game.

[Gary]

He is an enigma...early on I thought he had no hope...decision making / reflexes poor...& there are still moments where that basic lack of...well...anything much...just scream at you. But on a good day he is a ball getter & goal kicker with a bit of ticker. He is definitely a midfielder in the Sydney (Kirk, Bolton) mould i.e. grab & kick...but sometimes a little slower than the others.
Let's face it if we had Judd, or a number of others, he would be a back up player...but I admire his perseverance & achievements with what he has...it can reasonably be said he is a better / more durable player than father Kevin.

[satchmopugdog]

I have been watching a lot of replays since I got home in an effort to catch up(and because I still have one more week of Long Service Leave left) and I have been really impressed with the improvement in Luke. Consistently I see him using his strength to burst through in a mini Pluggeresque manner with 2 or 3 players hanging off him(almost like a Hill's hoist). He is obviously really determined and focused.
Sure he hasn't got "silky" skills or lightening reflexes or the quickest hands and he is often a victim of the HTB rulinging.....but he has a good kick and he gets the most out of what he has been blessed with. Obviously a big head is not one of these.

[NMWBloods]

Strength, perserverance and a long kick are probably his main attributes.

[satchmopugdog]

echo....echo...echo........

[GoSouth33]

Re: Luke Ablett: is there a psychologist in the house?

Originally posted by SimonH
Article today in SMH

"[At] a lot of the other clubs that are really skilful and fast, I probably wouldn't get a game because I'm a bit slow and I haven't got the best skills."

Name one other 50-game player going around in the AFL who would say that. (Leaving aside the unfortunate implication that Sydney are neither skilful nor fast.) Could we arrange some self-esteem classes for NOG? If we really had lost the GF, the poor guy would be on suicide watch.

Ross Lyon reckons he "probably underrates himself a little bit". Isn't that sweet of him?

I thought much the same thing when I read the article and it's hard to know exactly what he meant. If he was thinking the likes of Chris Judd then maybe he's right.....but there's not many players up to that level. Champions are great to have in any team, but too many champions can spoil the "whole" if you can't get the balance right. A few honest toilers really help in this regard.

As for the grand final, his clanger was preceded by the most magnificent one handed take which has been overshadowed by what followed.

[liz]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
Well... he's not that quick.

He's not Judd / Davey / Lovett or even Williams / Schneider / Kennelly / Crouch quick, that's for sure.

But I suspect he'd quite easily outsprint Jude or Kirky over 20m or 100m.

And even these two are far from the slowest mids going around the competition. I notice that on Saturday night the Swans used Kirky a couple of times as the "go-to" man from a huddle on the basis he'd be able to get away from Mitchell reasonably easily.

[j s]

Originally posted by hammo
Clearly the Roos 'we are less talented, we have no stars' mantra has taken effect

The mantra is more like "team effort wins games not individual stars"

[satchmopugdog]

He would have been able to outsprint " Diesel"Williams!!!! But then again I think Kenny used to give Diesel a bit of competition at training.

[giant]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
Well... he's not that quick.

As for skills, you do see good ones in passing, but they're not a big feature of his game.

Here's the answer - Bloods is his "spin doctor".

[Nico]

He does get his hands on the footy at centre bounces and stoppages.