Gary Ablett Jr used to have it all. Premierships, the undisputed title of the game’s best player, and hair.
Having left Geelong at the end of 2010 for an assortment of pleasantly heavy bags with comically large dollar signs printed across the front, Ablett somehow only managed to enhance his standing in the game.
Many had questioned whether he would be able to continue to spend two hours a week performing a very public brand of piss-taking, given he wouldn’t be receiving the help he had grown used to in his time with the Cats.
On that front, as we now all know, no dice.
A second Brownlow Medal for Ablett in 2013, and what would have probably been a third in 2014 if not for a single tackle, will attest to that.
Yet the 2017 season looms as the strangest of Ablett’s career, the season nine to his Scrubs – if Scrubs had originally been a, you know, much better show.
What can Ablett actually achieve this year?
In leaving for the Gold Coast, the then-preposterous amount of money being offered was undoubtedly the driving factor for Ablett. However, there was ambition in the move too.
Having achieved most of the game’s major awards for midfielders, Ablett was being handed the opportunity to prove himself capable of being a key part of a whole club’s creation from the ground up, and help deliver success within a short time frame.
But now, entering their seventh season, it seems unlikely that the Suns will see to that end with Ablett.
The team itself has embarked on not just a new chapter, but a new book entirely.
A club that is pushing for the sort of success intended when Ablett was first acquired probably wouldn’t have selected four top-ten picks at the previous year’s draft.
Despite the most assuring of reassuring efforts in the media from club chairman Tony Cochrane – who you might recall from such critically acclaimed performances as Jaeger ain’t leaving! – finals are almost certainly off the cards.
And now, after a tumultuous offseason in which Ablett reportedly requested a trade back to Geelong, Ablett cannot even hang his hat on helping lead the club towards a brighter future, having relinquished his role as captain, and having even been omitted from a seven-man leadership group.
Though his recently injury-ravaged seasons have undoubtedly played a hand in that latter demotion as well, that’s a spectacular fall from grace.
The insanity of Ablett’s very specific trade request is perhaps best denoted in two key areas.
It came just 18 months after the former Cat had signed a contract extension, which links him to the AFL’s second-youngest club until the end of the 2018 season.
And he obviously chose his high-school sweetheart, the one that got away – because he, uh, left them – in Geelong: a side with no trade currency, which thanks to trading away future picks again, will again have little to work with at the end of the coming season too.
All these factors suggest the Suns are moving on from their superstar, with coach Rodney Eade suggesting in February that Ablett will spend a significant part of the year as a forward.
This feeling only becomes stronger when you consider the midfielders Gold Coast have lost in recent seasons, from Josh Caddy and Harley Bennell, to Jaeger O’Meara and Dion Prestia.
“We have to go past Gary… you can’t rely on one player,” Eade said.
It’s just a shame for Ablett’s tenure at the Suns – whichever way it ends – that it has taken this long for the club to realise this.
Simoc
Guest
The Suns have failure written across the top. Worst Admin, Chairman, a has been struggling coach. They are the pits and hopefully will be replaced by a Tasmanian or Northern Territory team at some stage. One team is plenty for this non-rules Qld state.
SportsFanGC
Roar Guru
I think PaulD is spot on the money. The Suns know Ablett is at the absolute tail end of his career and he has given great service to the Club. The Trade and Draft period of 2016 has made all the difference to the Suns, they have depth for the first time ever and have played the vast majority of the past 2.5 seasons with Ablett in the stands. Cochrane knows that Ablett's value is mostly finished and can't see him forcing Ablett to play out 2018 up here. Additionally the Suns will regain $1M in the cap and Ablett will earn whatever Geelong deems reasonable.
steve
Guest
I would suggest its far more likely that we will see players changing clubs rather than picks. Its almost a certainty that Ablett wont be at the GCS next year.
sheek
Roar Guru
Why was it a failure? His presence at the Suns gave the club profile it would otherwise not had. And as the writer explained, he did mighty deeds in his time there. He didn't win a premiership for the Suns. Heck, he's just one guy, even if he's the best player in the team. There's more to it than winning grand finals. And if every club is expected to win a premiership, it would take just 18 years for every club to get one turn. Look at Jonathan Thurston in rugby league. Came off the bench as a teenager for Canterbury in 2004. The next year, his first at the NQ Cowboys, his team lost the grand final. Thurston had to wait until 2015, his 11th at the club, to taste his second grand final win, in which he starred. Ablett has done huge deeds for he Gold Coast. He doesn't owe the club anything more.
Steve
Guest
When a player leaves a club for money, they're never going to be at their best. R.I.P the Ablett dynasty
Macca
Guest
Rocks rust?
Cat
Roar Guru
That would be fair providing he has a good year this year
Paul D
Roar Guru
Cat at least changes his/her mind. You're just an old barnacle, rusted onto your rock
Macca
Guest
Looks like I have dragged you into another one PaulD. Why don't you two just agree to disagree.
Pat
Guest
Good calls about Gaz. It hasn't really worked out up at Gold Coast. Hopefully he becomes an effective forward and retires back on a high.
Cat
Roar Guru
I agree with his stance on O'meara ... just less convinced he won't do it again. I hope you are right. I hope a deal gets done that every one can be happy with and it gets done early on in the trade period without any need for daily newspaper statements and a ton of erroneous reporting.
Paul D
Roar Guru
I know it’s fashionable to bash Cochrane but really, there is a huge difference between O’Meara and Ablett. O’Meara had 2 years out of the game and ran up huge medical bills on the Suns payroll. The suns had identified and lured him over to QLD as a teenager. Put him through their academy. He was in his early 20’s and had acres of potential. Ablett is 33, will be 34 and the Suns have gotten years of service from him. I maintain Cochrane was right to play hardball on O’Meara. He will be wrong if he plays hardball with Ablett at the end of 2017 – but he won’t do that.
Cat
Roar Guru
Unless Cochrane tries to prove another point ...
Paul D
Roar Guru
Which Gary will want to void so he can go to Geelong, and the Suns will want to void so they don't have to pay an admittedly still very good 34 year old a million bucks. I don't see the existing contract being an obstacle.
Cat
Roar Guru
In order to 'take less money' the current contract has to be voided and a new one drawn up ... you don't get to just scribble new numbers on the old contract.
Paul D
Roar Guru
You won't have to pay Gaz 1 million dollars. Do you really think after earning millions at the Gold Coast he's going to want to come back to Geelong and put your salary cap through the wringer? You will get him for around 500,000 for one year, he gets his swansong season at the Cattery, everyone wins
Paul D
Roar Guru
6. Ablett takes less money to get what he really wants, which is to finish his career at Geelong Why do you persist in ignoring the most obvious solution?
Andrew Young
Roar Guru
Fantastic title to a well-crafted piece
Cat
Roar Guru
You are absolutely right, everything hinges on GC willingness to make anything happen. They have the contract and hold all the cards. A poor season and the Cats may not even be interested. A poor season and Gary may decide he has had enough too. A good or great season doesn't roll back his age, nor does it make his shoulder less risky. A good season doesn't make $1m fit into the Cats salary cap. Things will have to change to get any deal done.
Cat
Roar Guru
I agree, that is the likely outcome, and probably the best for all parties involved. Will Cochrane let it happen or re-engage blowhard mode again?