The son of Geelong legend Gary Ablett Snr – one of the game’s greatest ever players – Ablett joins the Gold Coast SUNS after nine seasons, 192 games and two AFL Premierships with the Cats.
Initially drafted to Geelong under the father-son rule in 2001, Ablett showed flashes of promise as a small forward during twelve senior games in his first season. He spent subsequent seasons slowly but surely improving his craft, but it wasn’t until 2005 that he began to consistently stamp his brilliance on the competition with his rare combination of speed, agility, strength, deft touch and almost freakish goal sense.
Ablett breakout season was 2007, one that coincided with a fulltime move to the Cats’ much vaunted midfield. He averaged 26 possessions a game over a stellar season and collected 20 Brownlow Medal votes on his way to helping Geelong ultimately pulverise Port Adelaide by 119 points in the 2007 Grand Final, the Cats’ first flag in 44 years.
Since then, Ablett form has been nothing short of sublime.
He was a two-time Best and Fairest winner at Geelong – in 2007 and 2009 - and was awarded the Brownlow Medal as AFL’s Fairest and Best player last in 2009. Since 2008, he has not finished lower than third in the Brownlow count.
He earned All Australian selection in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010, won the Leigh Matthews Trophy as the AFLPA’s Most Valuable Player for three consecutive years between 2007 and 2009 and in 2007 was adjudged Player of the Year by both the Herald Sun and The Age.
His efforts at Geelong have also seen him selected as a member of the Geelong Football Club Hall of Fame, an honour rarely bestowed upon a player still playing the game.
.gif "2008 Topps Chipz Best & Fairest Gary ABLETT (Geel)")
