JACK Viney says he tapped into the knowledge of teammate Jordie McKenzie, who held Gary Ablett to 19 disposals two years ago, as he prepared for Melbourne’s round one clash against the Gold Coast Suns at the MCG.

The tough nut emulated McKenzie’s effort in round 20, 2013 to hold one of the game’s greatest ever players to 19 disposals, but he also accumulated 24 disposals, capping off one of Viney’s best AFL matches.

“I just soaked up as much information as I could and found out as much about Gaz and how he liked to play,” Viney told Dee TV.

“You learn a lot from playing on the best players in the competition … and I’m all about helping the team and doing what needs to be done … so it was good to play on the best.”

Viney said he was nervous and excited about playing on Ablett in the lead-up. But he said he prepared to play on the Gold Coast captain by researching, watching vision and then executing his plan.

“It was great that we ended up getting a win and I felt like I had some influence on the game, which helped us win, so it was a good experience and a role I really enjoyed,” he said.

 “I felt his intensity around the contest was the best I’ve seen – I learned a lot from that. It was a terrific experience to be able to witness that and learn how to best go about it.

“I loved it and I felt like I did limit his impact on the game and contribute to us winning.”

Viney said he wasn’t aware of how sore Ablett’s shoulder was until he laid “a pretty good” tackle on him.

“He got up pretty ginger and said to me ‘good tackle’,” he said.

“I asked him how his shoulder was and he said ‘it was all right’.

“I felt like after that tackle that he was a bit ginger and I think he wanted to make his way off, but he couldn’t make his way to the bench, so he was a bit sore after that.”