No doubt about it at No.350

HE may be the finest exponent of Australian rules in the 21st century, but there were many times in his teen years when Gary Ablett wondered if he would be good enough.

This is the same 36-year-old who today becomes only the 17th man to play 350 VFL/AFL games. Wind the clock back 18 years to Saturday, March 30, 2002, when 17-year-old Ablett ran out in No.29 to play his first game for Geelong, a club that five years earlier had bade farewell to his father, Gary Sr.

“I can clearly remember getting a ride up to the game with teammate David Johnson thinking, ‘It’s about to happen, I’m about to play my first game of AFL football’,” Ablett said this week.

“Coming through the junior ranks I never really thought I was good enough to play at the top level. Yes, I played some good junior football and played with the Geelong Falcons, but I wasn’t sure.

“Even after I was drafted, I thought, ‘Is this going to be one of those things where I’m going to be playing in the reserves for a couple of years and then I’m going to have to figure out what I’m going to do with my life?’

“So driving up I thought at least I can say that I’ve played one senior game. To fast forward 19 seasons and think I’m going into my 350th game is pretty special.”

Ablett has spent the past two or three years readying himself for the transition from football superstar to a family man with business interests.

“I’m looking forward to the next chapter. This is my last year. I know there has been a lot of talk around about could I potentially go again, but, at this stage, no,” he said.