Even on an off-day, rare as they are, Gold Coast superstar Gary Ablett finds a way to leave an indomitable mark on his young AFL teammates.

Ablett was below his lofty best on Saturday at the SCG, where Sydney’s Kieren Jack and Nick Smith worked hard to limit him to 24 touches, three clearances and one behind.

“To absolutely restrict his influence to nothing is a bit of a farce. You’re not going to do it,” Swans coach John Longmire said.

But Ablett set the bar incredibly high over the past five years, and Saturday was a far cry from last week’s four-goal masterclass against St Kilda that lifted the Suns to a shock 13-point win over St Kilda.

Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna could see the upside to both games.

The fact the Suns lacked noting in self-belief and were competitive against the reigning premiers, despite Ablett and Harley Bennell (14 disposals) both misfiring, impressed McKenna.

“When we don’t see him kicking four goals and having 40 possessions, we scratch our heads, but we’re not always going to get that,” McKenna said after his side’s 41-point loss.

“I think our side around him understand that, and that was the pleasing thing for me today.

“When he and Harley and some of our other senior players weren’t firing on all cylinders, some of the other players really stood up,” he added, naming second-gamer Jaeger O’Meara, David Swallow and the Suns’ defence.

McKenna said Ablett did all he could as the Swans routinely denied him space at stoppages.

“Sydney aren’t a team of champions, they’re a champion team and together they certainly put the clamps on Gaz,” he said.

“But I can’t fault the skipper’s ability to work and try and put some of his teammates in space.”

McKenna praised NRL convert Karmichael Hunt’s performance on Swans’ champion Josh Kennedy, and veteran Jared Brennan’s attitude after he played only the final quarter as the substitute.

“He (Brennan) was stiff to miss out … his performance in the last quarter was super.”