Gold Coast’s first superstar player and inaugural AFL captain, Gary Ablett jnr, is backing the Suns to shine when they make their belated maiden debut in the AFL finals on Saturday.
Ablett, 41, let out a happy sigh when asked about his reaction to the Suns making it into Saturday’s elimination final against Fremantle in Perth; their first final after 15 years in the AFL.
Noah Anderson of the Suns runs with the ball.Credit: Getty Images
“Ohhh. It really did mean a lot,” Ablett said.
“They’ve never played finals football, so to get a taste of that is fantastic for them and, hopefully, they can put in a good performance in their first final and get a win.
“They’ve got such a fantastic young list and I’ve spent a bit of time with those guys and they’re just doing a really great job. You’ve got a really young list and you’ve got to develop the right way, they are playing a really great brand of football at the moment and they are only going to improve.”
Ablett left Geelong to launch the Suns in the AFL in 2011, and led from the front in 110 games for the fledgling club, becoming it’s first – and, so far only, Brownlow medallist in 2013.
He also won the best and fairest award in the Suns’ first three seasons before being cut down with injury, then recovered well enough to win the award for a fourth time in 2017 – his final year at the club before returning to Geelong for three swansong seasons.
He still plays football occasionally, and was a marquee player in last week’s AFL Legends game at Marvel Stadium, which was when he spoke to our scribe Roy Ward.
Asked by Ward about the possibility of his two clubs meeting in a knockout final this year, Ablett chuckled and said he wasn’t sure which team he would support in that circumstance.
“I haven’t really thought about it,” Ablett said.
“There is a chance it will happen. I obviously like cheering both teams on and want to see them do well.”
Ablett was initially recruited to Geelong in the 2001 “super draft” as a father-son selection.