It’s certainly been an eventful few months for Gary Ablett. Having had his request for a return to Geelong rejected by Gold Coast, Ablett has now taken the decision to step down as club captain, hinting 2017 could in fact be the final season of his career. While the two-time Brownlow Medal winner is contracted with the Suns until the end of the 2018 campaign, Ablett’s ongoing injury troubles and his desire to move back to his home state of Victoria could well result in the 32-year-old retiring from the game.
Ablett’s relationship with the club has clearly suffered, and it appears as though the midfielder’s belated return to pre-season training due to a delayed honeymoon won’t be an easy one – with former Suns defender Campbell Brown tweeting that the veteran’s team-mates weren’t happy with their absent captain. While Ablett has been vocal in insisting he remains committed to Gold Coast despite his attempts to leave during the offseason, his decision to relinquish the captaincy won’t exactly help to dash the theory that he is far from focused on the Suns.
The two-time AFL premiership winner has captained Gold Coast on 96 occasions since the club’s first AFL season in 2011. Only 20 of those have come in the past two years, however, with the midfielder struggling with ongoing shoulder injuries. While a number of youngsters stepped up admirably in Ablett’s absence, not having such an influential player for large chunks of the season hasn’t helped the Suns’ bid to start pushing for a top-eight finish and a place in the postseason.
On the back of another disappointing campaign, Gold Coast will start the new season with betting odds of around 3/1 to reach the finals in 2017. Any hope the club has of securing a top half finish surely lies with one of the best midfielders in recent history – a player who appears to want to be anywhere but with the Suns. If Ablett can get fully fit and excited about the prospect of leading the club into the finals for the first time, Gold Coast certainly have a squad capable of surprising a few people next season.
That’s a big ‘if’, though. Having established himself as one of the AFL’s most talented midfielders, Ablett made a big-money move to the ambitious league newcomers. After a solid if unspectacular first few years on the Gold Coast, injuries began to take their toll on the Victorian, and the past couple of seasons have seen the Suns forced to go for large parts of the campaign without their best player. There were a number of positives to take from last season, though, proving to many people that they are no longer a one-player team.
Sure, Ablett remains crucial to Gold Coast’s hopes in 2017, but the Suns know they have players coming through who are very much the future of the club and capable of holding their own in the AFL. In order to give themselves the best chance next season, the Suns’ management will be determined to solve this Ablett issue and place their full focus on really pushing on and challenging the top-eight next year.
