How do you stop a man who is widely regarded as the competition’s best player?

That question will no doubt be raised in the Brisbane Lions’ team meeting as they prepare to face Gary Ablett and the Gold Coast Suns this Saturday night at Metricon Stadium.

Unfortunately the simple answer is…you can’t.

Ablett is such a dominant force in the AFL that the best any team can hope for is to limit his influence on the contest.

His most recent match at Metricon Stadium saw the ‘little master’ produce one of his finest individual performances in the Suns’ Round One victory over St Kilda.

On that night, Ablett had a ‘routine’ 34 disposals and kicked four final-quarter goals to help sink the Saints.

While his history against the Lions in past QClashes has probably been modest by his own lofty standards, Ablett has still averaged 29.5 disposals in his four matches against the Lions as a Gold Coast player. 

However, in the most recent meeting between the two sides, he collected a QClash-record 37 possessions and claimed the Marcus Ashcroft Medal as the best afield.

It was the first time the award had been presented to a player from the losing side, such was his undeniable impact.

Lions tagger Andrew Raines has previously been entrusted with the monumental job of minding Ablett, and can probably expect a similar task again this weekend.

Lions Vice-Captain Tom Rockliff believes Raines deserves first crack at the ‘un-taggable’ Gold Coast skipper.

“I think Andrew Raines has done a really good job on him in the past,” Rockliff said.

“I know he won the Medal last year down there, but to be honest I thought Rainesy did a pretty good job that night.”

“Rainesy gets the best midfielder each week – he got Patrick Dangerfield last week. Obviously Dangerfield got off the chain a bit (in the last quarter), but Rainesy was on the bench when he did that.”

Rockliff also said that the Suns have quickly developed an arsenal of dangerous weapons, so Ablett won’t be the team’s sole focus ahead of QClash 5.

Gary Ablett’s QClash Stats