Hawthorn champion Dermott Brereton says Gary Ablett played one of the worst 30 possession games he has seen, but has backed the Geelong great to bounce back.
Ablett broke the AFL record for the most 30 disposal matches of any player in Friday night’s heart breaking loss to the Western Bulldogs, overtaking Hawks ball magnet Sam Mitchell.
While Brereton didn’t think the 34-year-old had any sort of influence on the match, he refused to write off the two-time Brownlow Medallist.
“One of their stars, he is a champion and we’re not calling the end of his career of anything, but Gary Ablett played the worst 30 possession game I’ve seen for some time,” he told SEN’s Crunch Time.
“He fumbled all night and had very poor gains. But he is going to strike back within a week or so and be exceptional once again.”
The five-time premiership Hawk says Geelong have the talent to finish in the top eight, but is concerned with the output of their bottom tier players.
“Their bottom end played pretty poorly," Brereton said.
“You didn’t get much out of Lachlan Fogarty, Jordan Cunico, James Parsons, and Brandan Parfitt. Some of those boys are talented, but you just didn’t get much out of them.
“They’re good enough (to make the finals), they’re a talented side. I’m starting to get a little bit concerned for them between their top players and the blokes who are coming in 16 through to 22.”
Geelong will look to return to the winners list when they clash with Sydney at the SCG on Thursday night.
Listen to Saturday's edition of Crunch Time in the player below