Gold Coast coach Rodney Eade has said the fact Gary Ablett will embark on the 3,600km journey west to play Fremantle should silence the conspiracy theorists.
Accused in some circles of only wanting to play home AFL games, the veteran midfielder will test his tight hamstring at Domain Stadium on Saturday.
Ablett has missed the past two games, and four of the past six.
Eade said Ablett “easily” passed a Thursday fitness test and was always in the frame for the Fremantle game after being close to a return against Richmond last weekend.
Not only will he play against the Dockers but Eade is backing the dual Brownlow medallist to feature in all four remaining games this season.
“I think going to Perth puts to bed that theory that he just wants to play at home,” Eade said.
“I’m fairly confident, unless he gets a new injury, that he’ll play.”
And in terms of where, or if, Ablett plays after that?
“I don’t know what Gary wants to do but you certainly hear that Geelong aren’t going to make a push for him, they’ve made that fairly clear,” Eade said.
“We haven’t had conversations with any player.”
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Eade said he was happy with Ablett’s output and confident he could contribute if he remained on the Gold Coast.
“I hear the other day people are talking about All Australian and that he’s in contention for that, even though he’s missed a few games,” he said.
“He’s probably not going to play to that level (when he was peaking as a 29-year-old) but the form he’s displayed this year, if he has a reasonable run with injuries, you’d think he’d be able to maintain.”
Co-captain Steven May is also expected to make his return after missing a fortnight with a hamstring complaint.
Jarrod Witts, Callum Ah Chee, Brayden Fiorini and Ben Ainsworth were all injured in the loss to the Tigers and won’t make the trip, while Michael Rischitelli will be rested.
Josh Schoenfeld, Trent McKenzie, Mitch Hallahan and in-form ruckman Dan Currie will join Ablett and May in the travelling party.
All told, the Suns have used 41 of 45 listed players this season.
“We’re going over there to win, that’s our mindset,” Eade said of the task ahead.
“We’re just trying to get everything out of the season we can; a combination of youth and trying to win games.”
Gecko
Guest
His consistency this year suggests he's still got enough enthusiasm and that his body is still okay. Also he won't walk into a media job or coaching job as easily as some other champs. I think he'll continue for another year or two but I think Eade's right that he won't get back to his absolute best but can replicate this year's performance.
Cat
Roar Guru
Cut myself off, oops. Ablett is also in contract, he'll either play at the Suns, retire or request a trade to Geelong (whether Cochrane is willing to do a deal or not is another story).
Cat
Roar Guru
I'd be surprised if Eade is still at the Suns next year, was a bad appointment from the start.
Gecko
Guest
'Geelong aren’t going to make a push for him...We haven’t had conversations with any player.” Eade doesn't seem particularly excited about keeping Ablett. Interesting that Ablett's output is still high (will probably rank in the top dozen in the Brownlow this year) but no clubs seem to be falling over themselves to contract him.