N. Ablett a priority for Tiger defence - Wallace (The Age)

[one-eyed]

N. Ablett a priority for Tiger defence
By Stathi Paxinos
The Age
August 24, 2005

RICHMOND coach Terry Wallace said yesterday he would not repeat a mistake made by West Coast last weekend and had earmarked a key defender to cover Nathan Ablett when the Tigers play Geelong on Sunday.

Ablett kicked four goals in the Cats' 76-point upset win over the Eagles last Saturday, in an effort that won him the AFL's Rising Star nomination for round 21. Ablett, the younger son of former Cats great Gary Ablett, helped Geelong build an early platform to defeat the ladder leader.

In only his second senior match, Ablett had 10 touches and starred at centre half-forward. In a game that Wallace described as having an atmosphere of a "love-fest", with Ablett's famous father watching on from the Skilled Stadium grandstand, Nathan had three goals to quarter-time and saw off two West Coast opponents.

Ablett found his way into the senior team because of the club's injury crisis, Geelong coach Mark Thompson saying the week before his debut that he had no choice but to play him.

Wallace said that although he understood Eagles coach John Worsfold's thinking in not matching Ablett with a key-position player, he would make covering Ablett a priority this weekend.

Wallace, who named Shane Tuck, Kayne Pettifer and Chris Newman as this year's big improvers, said he was surprised many people had rated Hawthorn, which was narrowly beaten by Richmond last Sunday, more highly than the Tigers at the beginning of the season.

He conceded that the team had missed the "matching-winning" abilities of the injured Nathan Brown in a "couple" of games.

Wallace also said the emotion of the farewell for former Tigers skipper Wayne Campbell on Sunday would be offset to some degree by the Cats supporters' farewell to Brenton Sanderson, who has announced he will retire at the end of the season.

The 31-year-old Sanderson will play at Skilled Stadium for the last time on Sunday.

He missed last year's finals series because of a heart condition and did not resume until round 12 this year because of a calf muscle injury.

http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2005/08/23/1124562867443.html

[Tiger Spirit]

Maybe I’ve only got one eye open here, but how come Will Thursfield played at least 3 reasonably good games, his first on Michael O’Loughlin, and is yet to receive a nomination, yet Ablett gets one after his second game?

Not saying he doesn’t deserve it, as he’s kicked 4 goals, playing at CHF, which is no mean feat, but why was that effort any better than someone playing his first game in defence and staying on the ground the whole time, against an opponent like O’Loughlin?  Plus he’s had at least another 1 or 2 games where he’s also played well.

Just wondering.

[Razorblade]

I fnd it silly that he was nominated, he has no hope of winning it this year.

[Fishfinger]

I don't think Richard Tambling has been nominated yet. He seems petty confident in his ability so the lack of a nomination could be extra motivation for him to tear up Sleepy Hollow this weekend.

[letsgetiton!]

I don't think Richard Tambling has been nominated yet. He seems petty confident in his ability so the lack of a nomination could be extra motivation for him to tear up Sleepy Hollow this weekend.

will bling and thursfeild and foley be able to win it next yr bec of their lack opf games this yr???

[mightytiges]

I don't think Richard Tambling has been nominated yet. He seems petty confident in his ability so the lack of a nomination could be extra motivation for him to tear up Sleepy Hollow this weekend.

will bling and thursfeild and foley be able to win it next yr bec of their lack opf games this yr???

Tambling won't be as he's played more than 10 games but the other two are still eligible.

---------------------------------

NAB AFL Rising Star Medal

Background

• The AFL Rising Star award was instituted in 1993 to recognise and encourage talented young players in the AFL.
• Since the National Australia Bank’s involvement commenced, the NAB AFL Rising Star Medal has been presented to Nick Riewoldt of St Kilda (2002), Sam Mitchell of Hawthorn (2003) and Jared Rivers of Melbourne (2004).

Structure

• After each AFL Home and Away round, a player is nominated for the medal.
• Following the completion of the Home and Away Season, the judging panel allocates votes (5,4,3,2,1) to the nominees. The votes are tallied to decide the winner of the NAB AFL Rising Star Medal.
• The judging panel consists of the 2005 AFL All-Australian selectors: Andrew Demetriou (non voting chairman), Adrian Anderson, Rod Austin, Gerard Healy, Roberts Walls, Kevin Bartlett, Neil Kerley, Chris Mainwaring and Kevin Sheehan.

Eligibility

• Nominees must have played no more than 10 AFL games at the start of the season, and must be under 21 years of age as at 1 January of that year.
• After each AFL Home and Away round, a player is nominated for the award and at the end of the AFL season, the winner is chosen from these nominees.

What will the 2005 NAB AFL Rising Star Nominees receive?

• Each NAB AFL Rising Star Nominee in 2005 will receive a 68cm Magnavox television from the National.

What will the 2005 NAB AFL Rising Star Medallist receive?

• The NAB AFL Rising Star winner will receive the prestigious Rising Star Medal as well as a $10,000 investment portfolio and a dedicated personal banker from the National Australia Bank.

http://afl.com.au/default.asp?pg=aflfocus&spg=display&articleid=209455

[letsgetiton!]

thanx mt, but is the prise 10k or 20k, i thought i heard on foxfooty the winner gets 20grand

[mightytiges]

Not 100% sure X but I think it was $10k last year.

And just back to the original topic - apparently SEN has said Nathan Ablett is unlikely to play on Sunday to due general soreness.