Ablett ready for hub life

GEELONG superstar Gary Ablett will on Tuesday travel to Queensland and has one eye on the ultimate prize.

Ablett, 36, left the Cats’ hub after Round 7 to support his family, particularly young son Levi — who suffers from a rare degenerative disease — and wife Jordan, who lost her mother Trudy to cancer earlier this month.

He has declared that he will be “ready to go” once his mandatory 14-day quarantine ends and is hunting a premiership in what he has said will be his final season.

“I’m feeling really good and have got no doubt that once I get out of that quarantine hub, I’ll be ready to go,” Ablett said on Monday. “As nice as it’s been being back and with family, I’m really looking forward to getting up there with Jordan and Levi and getting our two weeks done in quarantine and then joining the boys and hopefully being able to get out there and play some really good football and ultimately have a crack at winning that premiership.”

The 36-year-old has been training alongside former teammate and three-time premiership ex-Cat Andrew Mackie while he has been back in Victoria, with Mackie to also travel into the quarantine hub on Tuesday.

About 400 league officials, club staff, families and media will travel to the Gold Coast on three separate flights from

Tullamarine on Tuesday afternoon.

Ablett said he had been buoyed by what the team had achieved since he departed in July, having won five of its past six games.

“It’s obviously difficult training by yourself, but Mack’s been at 95 per cent of the sessions and it’s just good to have someone out there that has experienced that success and knows what needs to be done out on the football field and what it takes to get my body right,” he said.

“The boys have been playing really good football … we are getting the ball inside forward 50 a lot faster, and giving our forwards a chance one-onone. Just their hardness around the ball, as well.”