NORTH MELBOURNE chairman James Brayshaw called this "the big show" during the week — Friday night football, a time to shine and a rare opportunity for the Kangaroos, who had not played in a round-starting match since last May, to take centre stage.

It was an undermanned Arden Street troupe that lined up against an ensemble from Geelong that, with Cameron Mooney and Paul Chapman returned to the cast, was even better endowed with stars than it was for its previous performance.

And when the curtain opened, one man was the clear show-stopper. If Telstra Dome had a spotlight, it would have been trained on Gary Ablett.

In the first 30 minutes of last night's spectacle, Ablett had 14 possessions, most of them as crisp as they were deadly. Before a crowd of 38,373, Ablett's delivery was brilliant — he set up the Cats' first goal by winning the ball from the centre and passing to Tom Lonergan who, to rapturous acclaim from the Geelong faithful in the audience, duly converted.

If this was shaping as an award-worthy 135th performance for Ablett, it was an experience that North Melbourne's Ed Lower — taking the big stage for only the 21st time — would rather forget. Presumably, Lower was set the task of tagging one of the Cats' biggest names but simply keeping up with his opponent was challenge enough. When, in the 28th minute of the first term, Ablett had a rest by rotating himself into the forward line, Lower looked equally grateful for the change of scene and pace.

At the start of the second term, Ablett was again in the middle, this time with Brady Rawlings shadowing him. Eight minutes in, he slipped out of character momentarily, blotting Geelong's hitherto flawless scoresheet — at that point, it showed eight straight goals — with a behind that followed an errant kick. North might have stayed in this contest longer than the Cats wanted, but where Ablett was concerned, there wasn't much else that didn't go to script.

By three-quarter-time, he was up to 30 touches, 11 more than Geelong's next most prolific ball-winners, Cameron Ling and Jimmy Bartel — the winner of football's most coveted award last year, although many critics would have sooner awarded the gong to Ablett.

If last night, and Ablett's previous nine outings are any guide, the story might be different this September. Only in two games this season has Ablett had fewer than 25 touches — in the opening round, when he had 24, and round six, a rare day indeed, when he touched the ball only 15 times.

Of course such outstanding statistics tell only a smidgen of the tale.

Late in the third quarter last night, Ablett, employing some deft footwork, got around Drew Petrie, then Rawlings, then pumped the ball into Geelong's forward 50. Cameron Mooney moved it onto Travis Varcoe, whose goal put the Cats 18 points up. Then, just before three-quarter-time, in a 50-50 contest 30 metres from goal, Ablett outsmarted Leigh Harding, won the footy, found space in the middle of a thick pack, spun on to his left foot and snapped his second goal.

At full-time, Ablett was credited with 39 possessions — his highest disposal count in an already glittering season. He had also laid five tackles, effected seven clearances and put the ball into the Cats' forward 50 a staggering 12 times.

If they'd had them, the Geelong faithful would have thrown roses.