What if Gary Ablett stayed at Geelong?

With Geelong’s victory against Brisbane last weekend, they will now face Richmond in the 2020 grand final in the upcoming days.

While the grand final will be historic in many ways, the epic finale to the 2020 season will also be the last ever appearance from the great Gary Ablett Jr in an AFL match.

After nearly two decades played across two teams, the Little Master’s terrific career is finally closing with a chance to have a fairytale ending and finish his career with a premiership.

However, with Ablett finishing his career with Geelong on grand final day, it is intriguing to look back and hypothesise how different Ablett’s career would have been if he had stayed with the Cats instead of heading to the Gold Coast back in 2011.

Ablett played seven seasons with the Suns, consistently providing a high level of play in a below-average team. He continued to be the best player in the competition over his first four seasons with the Gold Coast Suns.

The superstar even acquired a Brownlow medal during his tenure with the Suns as he stood out as one of the best even on a team playing poor footy.

While his last three years with the Suns were plagued by injury, his tenure with the team is seen as a major success as his level of play was constantly at superstar status and he helped keep the Suns’ team afloat at times.

However, while Ablett had great individual success with the club, Gold Coast has still not had a single finals appearance since their inception into the AFL.

This has led many fans to believe that Ablett had wasted his talents at the Suns, with the two-time Brownlow winner and two-time premiership player playing some of his best years in a club that made no major steps forward in terms of success.

Meanwhile, in the seasons Ablett played for the Suns, the Cats won a premiership back in 2011 and had mixed finals success until Ablett returned, never making it to the big dance again until this year.

(Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

With Ablett’s leadership and pure talent, it is easy to assume that the Cats would have had more success with the superstar in their midfield.

It is easy to question how many grand final appearances and potential premierships the Cats would have acquired had Ablett spent his entire career with the team.

While there will be some who argue that footy is a team sport and one player cannot change the outcome of game by themselves, it is easy to predict that a club managing to retain one of the greatest of all time on their side could have had some different outcomes.

Ablett certainly would have been a three-time premiership player already, and we could have had an opportunity to see the squad win more and create a dynasty.

While he may have detoured to the Gold Coast for seven years and it is easy to discuss what-if scenarios if Ablett had stayed, Gary Ablett Jr will always be a valued and loved member of the Geelong Cats with the team having the perfect opportunity to give the star the fairytale ending he deserves.