Gold Coast captain Gary Ablett moving out of his father's shadow Gold Coast champion Gary Ablett in action against Collingwood. I CAN'T remember the last time Gary Ablett was called "little Gaz." If he still is, then it's the greatest misnomer in footy, for Ablett is a giant. The transformation from the "son of" to cementing his own identity is complete. Saturday night's performance against Collingwood was not a deal-breaker, more an exclamation point, just as was his goal midway through the final quarter, when he blazed across half-forward and around several Collingwood opponents to kick the game-winner. Debate will be held this week about who is better: Gary Ablett Sr or Gary Ablett Jr. That it is the week that Junior equalled Senior's career games mark - 248 games - makes it not so much a necessary debate, but one that is pleasurable. There are no winners or losers here. Only Junior is emphatic about who is the better player and it's the only time Junior acts the little boy again. It's always Dad, he says, the greatest player to have ever played the game. To others, there isn't the same certainty. One played largely forward, the other plays largely midfield. One was an aerial highlight reel, the other is a phenomenal ground-ball player who wins the footy like no other. Both had/have extraordinary ability to work the ball to kick goals. They know how to drop the ball and connect with it at the very spot that allows the ball to work its way through the air, be it across the body and hitting the fat of the footy; or hitting it closer to the toe of the ball, which allows for movement and greater penetration; or dribbling from the boundary; or being able to lift the ball out of congestion, with enough height and weight that it clears the congestion and then the pack waiting on the goal line. In that regard, you have to give to Senior. He kicked 1021 goals. To break it down, he kicked five-plus goals 103 times, six-plus 69 times, seven-plus 45 times, eight-plus 28 times, nine-plus 18 times and 10-plus goals 12 times. His "best of" DVD should be rated MA because a) he murdered the opposition on the scoreboard; and b) he maimed the opposition as he did it. Junior isn't the same beast. He is as freakish as his old man, but he kills them softly: death by a thousand possessions, if you like. He has had 30-plus disposals 87 times, 40-plus disposals 17 times and 50-plus disposals the one time. Still, who's the best cannot be answered. It's a matter of opinion and it's why the likes of Leigh Matthews, Ron Barassi, John Kennedy, David Parkin and Malcolm Blight are important to debate. But what we do know is Junior could possibly be the best onballer the game has seen. It's why I like to have Jack Dyer alive, or John Coleman, or Bobby Rose. They could tell us about triple Brownlow medallists Dick Reynolds and Haydn Bunton Jr, and their individual dominance on the competition through the 1930s and 1940s. Comparing players from different eras is impossible, but I find it difficult to accept the aforementioned greats of the game had similar balance and one-touch as Junior, or were as exceptional below their feet; could kick left and right, could accelerate and gut-run, and could swerve and pivot and weave, and do it generally for 120 minutes with an opponent assigned. If that person existed he clearly was a phenomenal player. Ablett surely has to win a second Brownlow medal, surely has to win a fifth Leigh Matthews Medal for the AFL Players' Association MVP, and surely win his fifth club best-and-fairest award. And despite all that, he might not even be the best player in his family.