COULD Collingwood have done anything more to stop Gary Ablett?
The champion finished with 49 disposals, two goals, 10 clearances and six inside 50s.
Ablett has a habit of turning it on against the Magpies, averaging 28.4 disposals a game in his 15 appearances against Collingwood leading into this game.
He has more disposals on average against only the Giants and, in his three games against his former club with the SUNS, Geelong.
So his performance was no surprise to Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley.
"He is the best player in the comp," Buckley said.
It appeared Collingwood's plan was to rotate Dayne Beams and Dane Swan on Ablett with Luke Ball forcing him under the ball when possible at the stoppages. Scott Pendlebury had enough on his plate with Danny Stanley keeping him company.
Everyone else was on notice to help when, how and where they could.
Beams managed 34 disposals and one goal and Swan got it 32 times for two goals. But neither influenced the vibe of the contest like Ablett.
"We don't want to play 50-50 footy but stopping Gary Ablett is a hard task," Buckley said.
It is so hard that few answers were available.
One suggestion was Brent Macaffer who appeared reinvented as the club's tagger under Buckley. However he played as a defensive forward on playmaker Trent McKenzie.
"[Macaffer is an] important part of our forward set up, [we] tried to run a number of our midfielders through Gary and none of them were able to do the job," Buckley said. "He (Ablett) was on fire tonight."
Having said that even Macaffer's opponent, McKenzie, was surprised to still see Macaffer line up alongside him after half-time when Ablett had 27 disposals to his name.
"I was a bit," McKenzie said when asked the question. "He was running loose there in the middle. They had different plans obviously and tried to beat him one on one so…"
Collingwood's midfield does not often give ground to anyone, and it could be argued that the benefits to Beams from playing on Ablett will be felt at the Magpies for years to come.
Pendlebury agreed with the coach's view that when Ablett was playing well he was difficult to counter. They did their best to stop him but it proved impossible.
"He is just so damaging every time he gets the ball. He makes the right decision probably nine and a half times out of 10. To have a game like that tonight probably shows why he is the best player in the competition by the length of the straight," Pendlebury said.
While plenty will be made of the tactics surrounding Ablett, it's hard to know whether he was the difference. Even with 53 touches from Ablett a year earlier the Magpies won by 97 points.
Pendlebury knows to eclipse the SUNS these days it takes more than just matching Ablett.
"Full credit to Gold Coast," Pendlebury said "They are not that young, easybeat side anymore. They all have 50-60 games into them and that bald bloke is all right too."
The stats agree with Ablett the overwhelming leader in the Official AFL Player Ratings.
Next week, Ablett junior matches the game tally of his famous dad, Gary senior.
Let the conversation on how to stop him continue.
