Superstar Gary Ablett says Gold Coast made mistakes in the AFL club’s formative years which hindered the development of young players.
The two-time Brownlow medallist expects to see out his decorated AFL career on the tourist strip, despite persistent rumours of a return to Geelong, the club where he and his famous father and namesake remain revered figures.
The 32-year-old won’t play again in 2016 after suffering another serious shoulder injury – this time against Brisbane in round 16.
The injury-plagued Suns have long been out of finals contention this season and currently sit in fourth-last spot on the ladder with a 5-12 record.
In an interview aired on the Nine Network’s AFL Footy Show on Thursday night, Ablett stopped short of directly criticising ex-Suns coach Guy McKenna, who was replaced two season ago by the experienced Rodney Eade.
But he readily acknowledged that errors were made.
“I expected it to be tough,” Ablett said of the club he joined as foundation captain for the 2011 campaign.
“I feel early days we probably developed the boys the wrong way – in terms of what we were teaching them on the track and on the footy field.
“If you look at all the good sides, Hawthorn, Geelong, the teams that have had success over a long period of time, they do the basics of football well and I don’t think we were training the right drills.”
Ablett said he had never spoken to Cats officials about the prospect of a return to the club where he played a pivotal role in the 2007 and 2009 premiership campaigns.
“There has been a lot of hard work go into the last five or six years (at Gold Coast) and I want to be part of that success,” he said.
“I have so many great memories from the Geelong football club, they will always hold a special place in my heart, but I want to play finals football up there.
“We’re yet to play finals football (and) I thought we would have at least had a taste of it by now.”
Don Freo
Guest
Almost agree... I think Rosa has been excellent, apart from injury. A real cog in the wheel when he has played.
SportsFanGC
Roar Guru
I think Gaz has stated the obvious, which he usually does in all interviews he conducts. There were many a mistake made by the Suns in their formative years and with all the concessions granted to them by the AFL they have squandered their opportunity to date. In no particular order: 1. Karmichael Hunt - I can’t think of any other sport at the Professional Level that would recruit an athlete, that has little to no experience playing that particular sport at any level of note, for marketing purposes only. Truly embarrassing. 2. Outside of Ablett, Bock (prior to breaking his leg) and probably Harbrow the Experienced Players recruited to the Club were an abject failure. 3. This follows on to current day Free Agency and Trading where they continue to pick up players that don’t add anything to the team – Hallahan, Currie, Rosa, Malceski, Grant etc. 4. Ablett being given far too much leeway to do as he wanted in the early years which included flying to Melbourne when/if required for either personal or professional reasons and not attending all Suns games when missing through minor injury (I don’t include his time on the sidelines with the first shoulder in this summation). Unfortunately special treatment to star players can have a detrimental effect on some teams. 5. Many an opinion has been made about the lack of discipline and attention to detail on skills with the Suns youngsters in the formative years of the Club and it showed plenty of times with their disgraceful disposal during game day. However I do think that the Suns are doing all that they can to rectify the above with positives including: 1. New State-of-the-Art Training Centre coming online shortly at the Carrara Sports Precinct. 2. Additional support staff and coaches implementing more personalized programs for the players. 3. Continuing their great community work in and around the Gold Coast. There are some positive signs for them on field with Tom Lynch, Peter Wright, Sam Day beginning to form a good trio up forward and Steven May a solid backman taking on the monsters each week. I think Saad, Ah Chee, Miller and Kolodjashnij are others who give some hope but it drops away after that. If they can rectify the shocking spate of injuries that has plagued this club for 2 years and counting they could yet aim for finals in the next 2-3 years with smart recruiting and hopefully the retention of O’Meara, Prestia and Swallow. I think if all of the above players leave the Club the midfield does not have the talent or depth to do anything for the next 3-5 years and I wouldn’t put it past guys like Lynch and Wright to seek greener pastures and enjoy some finals footy.