Is it just me who thinks this guy is a weak link and his game and reputation are plagued by errors. It has been mentioned he is an England candidate or a future NRL star. And guess where those comments came from.
Tell me what you think?

he is the absolute definition of average. i always enjoy seeing him in the leeds lineup against us

no pace, doesn't hit hard, isn't going to tear you apart with his skill, isn't going to run over your pack.

they are more than welcome to him. the NRL? what a joke. Thankfully England has some talented 2nd rowers insofar that Carl Ablett's name will never be mentioned, even if a nuclear attack killed every other english 2nd row forward.

put it this way;

he's not referred to as Mr. Ablett to my friends & I.
he's Mr. Average

Just look on the Leeds forum, talk about amber and blue tinted specs.

i did look at the leeds forum, but to be honest you come off sounding like a bit of a prat more than anything. your comments are why this and other team's forums are declining.. why go on the leeds board just to wind them up and call their team average in some gloat session? if you want to knock their players, do it here

The reason i go on other teams forums is because i am sick of reading about our players being slated on there. I have to have my say.Wigan is in my blood mate, always has been so looking prat or not am not really concerned about.

well fair enough... you'll likely get banned pretty sharpish though by some third reich mod

and there wasn't many wigan players mentioned in the carl ablett thread!

They mention Sam and Gaz Hock on their forums, this week everyone does i know.

Random thread. I don't really rate him but I can see what he brings to the Leeds side. He's got a decent offload, is a workhorse in defence and with the ball, he can break a tackle or two and probably isn't on mega bucks. You can't have superstars in every position.

Jeff's been banned before, but he's still the best at what he does best

England International or NRL player though?

Probably not good enough for England as we have plenty of better second rowers (I believe his best position), but I think he'd do a job in the NRL. For one thing, they love their workhorse second rowers, especially with a bit of niggle like Ablett has. The NRL isn't the wealth of talent and stardom like many people here think it is.

so you starting a thread on here to slate another teams player is different?..

as for Ablett, he's not the greatest but he does a job. and managed to score against us last week. He's a big unit playing in the centre so attacking wise he's gonna be a threat out wide.

Just playing the game, doing the same as they are. They have slated the whole concept of the team WIGAN you wanna have a look at it before having a go at me.

I'm not having a go at anyone.

We are the current superleague champions, I wouldn't expect opposition fans, especially Leeds to just bow down and tell us how great they think we and our players are. no matter how we played, how good our rugby was to watch. or how many of the best young talented players we had in the league. we are Wigan, and will simply be hated for it because of the jealousy stemming from the fact that we are the most decorated team in rugby league history.

When Leeds where winning things I'd imagine there would of been lots of threads slating them for various things... it happens.

I am old enough to remember when the opposition fans admired how we played and i for one was proud to hear that from fans who were a lot fairer than they are now. They still admire us now but hate us more.

In terms of a second row forward playing in the centres I'd say he's no better or worse than JT. Probably more consistent than JT though.

In just those terms id agree although id argue joel offers more across the field in meters and speed and involvement.

Ablett has settled better in to the centre position then Joel imo. He is a bigger threat close to the line and is defending better in the position in comparison to Joel Tomkins who I believe has done a reasonable job but at the same time has proved he's a second row.

IMO Joel runs too upright and doesn't have the footwork to really become as good at centre as he is at second row. When attacking close the line defenders can stand him upright because he doesn't go low and his footwork is too heavy. He is more of a threat from deep when we stretch teams and give him some space (with Wembley being a prime example) but he can do that just as well at second row.

Keep up the 40 threads a day averge central park forever and in a few years time youll be british rugby leagues number 1 contributer

Wait a minute....what you've just discribed about Joel good at running from deep and stretching teams is what a good centre does!!! Its a second rows job to attack close to the line with heavy feet!!! To say Joels got heavy feet is like saying Carl Abletts as good as Gareth Ellis like the boo boys are saying!!

I'd love you to point out where anyone said he was as good as Ellis.

I said he was a similar style player and that I could therefore see him having an NRL career. As a couple of your fans have pointed out his game would suit the style of play over there.

The fact that either Joel or Carl are playing centre highlights how the British game lacks quality in that position. FWIW I like Joel's extra pace and dynamic there but think Ablett defends the position a lot better. If they could be merged into one player they'd be pretty good in either position.

One word describes him for me, "solid". Nothing more, nothing less.

I would go with this. He has definitely improved as a player over the years but I would still say SR is his best position. He has had a good season and been one of Rhinos best players, but I think that says more about the season Leeds have had.

stands out in a poor team but doesnt make him any good