Gary Ablett’s season-ending shoulder injury is not only devastating for the Gold Coast Suns, but for football in general.
Too often we take for granted watching the little master bedazzle opponents on the football field, which is a testament to his durability.
It is remarkable that this is his first major injury when you consider the close attention he receives from the opposition every week.
The game’s best player dislocated his shoulder in last week’s match against Collingwood, when dour tagger Brent Macaffer drove him into the Metricon Stadium turf in a solid tackle. It was the most talked about shoulder in Australia and it was announced early during the week that the best option would be to book him in for surgery.
Ablett looked destined to be a runaway winner of the game’s most coveted individual award, the Brownlow Medal, but will now have to defy history if he is to claim the illustrious prize.
I will be watching the count, anxiously hoping for Ablett to burst from the blocks and hold on to win his third medal.
Make no mistake, Ablett is not just a champion of the game, he is an out-and-out legend.
As the game’s best player for more than half a decade, he can consider himself unlucky to not have won more Brownlows. He under-polled in 2007 after entering as the pre-count favourite and clearly winning Geelong’s best and fairest.
In 2008 he fell just short of Adam Cooney, despite once again entering the count as clear favourite by the bookies. After winning his first Brownlow in 2009, he was equal-favourite (with Dane Swan) to claim back-to-back medals in 2010 but finished in second place behind Chris Judd.
Despite the fact that he will miss the final seven games of the season, triple Brownlow medallist Ian Stewart believes Ablett is still a chance to win.
“He should have close to 25 votes and if you look at the guys behind him, they may not score that highly this year. Some of the guys who you would think are very good players haven’t played quite as well as previously.”
Here’s hoping Ablett joins Stewart as a triple Brownlow medallist come late September.
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