FINAL BOW FOR LITTLE MASTER
One of the greatest we will see
WHEN Gary Ablett was a boy there were times when teammates of his famous father would playfully drill kick sat him from short range in the dressing room.
They were supposed to bounce off him but Ablett was different and special — he caught them.
It was the first sign Gary Jr had a little magic blend of silk and starch that has endured through 18 years and 356 games of AFL for Geelong and Gold Coast.
Win or lose, whether he gets 35 touches or does not touch it, Ablett will retire after the grand final against Richmond rated one of the game’ s greatest players.
If you want to argue he is the best you can go deep in the argument by arming yourself with Brownlow Medal counts, because no player in history has bettered his 262 votes or 55 best-onground appearances. The split is interesting because in 110 games for an embryonic Gold Coast team he polled 122 votes while in 246 games at Geelong he has 140 at a lesser percentage.
Many threads can be drawn from this, including the fact great players often poll well with less opposition from their team mates.
But it also proves Ablett could be great in teams that were good, bad or plain ugly, a self-sufficient superstar who did not need a support network to shine.
My only interview with Ablett was nine years ago when he was about to play his first match for the Suns.
He impressed me before the chat when we happened to drive into the carpark at the same time. Both were heading to the one spare space from different directions before he gestured “after you’’, unaware the person he was offering a park to was about to interview him.
Since then — on the field — everything and nothing has changed.
He has gone back to Geelong but he is still one of the most watchable players in sport because even if you can not tell a ruck from a puck you can marvel a this skills.
And he is still an enigma we do not hear much from.
His response, uttered in that early interview, to why could well apply now.
“People think I am quiet, but when you get to know me, I like to have a bit of fun and enjoy being a prankster,’’ Ablett said.
“A lot of people said the reason I got drafted was because of the Ablett name and I wanted to prove them wrong. The part I loved about football was being out on the field and being around your mates. The media is a part of it, but I try to do as little media as possible.’’
As he leaves the game the question lingers over whether he is a better player than his father. In 2011, according to him, it was no contest.
“He’s better. I have said so many times, and I know I’m biased because he is my Dad, but he was the best player I have seen ,’’ he said.
“He calls me after every game and he might say, ‘Mate, I thought you played well tonight and I liked that goal from boundary’. But then he will say ‘None of those st ats would have got on my highlights tape’.”