Gary Ablett Sr.
| Gary Ablett Sr. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| File:Noimage | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Original team(s) | Drouin | ||
| Debut | 1982, Hawthorn Football Club vs. Geelong Football Club | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
|
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1997. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
|
| |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
Gary Ablett, Sr (born October 1 1961) is a retired Australian Rules Football player. He is considered to be one of the game's greatest players, if not the best ever seen, holding an often legendary status amongst spectators and commentators alike. Ablett grew up in the town of Drouin in Victoria's Gippsland region.
His father was a champion horse trainer and his mother was a talented track and field athlete. He was one of eight children, with two of his four brothers playing professional football and all of his siblings succeeding in their chosen sports. One of his sisters is married to former Hawthorn star Michael Tuck. Ablett dropped out of high school at the age of fifteen and became a bricklayer's labourer. During his teenage years, he was charged with criminal offences such as assault and drug possession, and came close to imprisonment on more than one occasion.
In January, 2006, Ablett announced he was selling his football memorabilia collection by online auction. Ablett will auction football jumpers, boots, shorts, socks and gloves used during his football career. [1]
Career
In 1982, Ablett was recruited by the Hawthorn Football Club as a wingman, in what was then the Victorian Football League. His first season was unsuccessful, he played only six games and kicked nine goals. At season's end, he returned to his uncle's home town of Myrtleford, and played out the 1983 season there. At that time, his football career seemed over.
In 1984, Ablett was picked up by Geelong, where he moved to the forward line. In the 1984 season, he turned his career around, playing 15 games and kicking thirty-three goals. He was awarded "Best and Fairest" (the highest club-based award in Australian Rules Football) at Geelong that same year. For the next twelve seasons, Ablett was one of the stars of what soon became the Australian Football League. He played in four grand final teams: 1989, 1992, 1994 and 1995, although Geelong lost each time. In 1989, he kicked nine goals and was awarded the Norm Smith Medal, for best player afield in the Grand Final — a match widely regarded as one of the best ever played. In receiving the Norm Smith Medal, he became one of only four players (the others being Maurice Rioli, Nathan Buckley, and Chris Judd) to win the medal playing for the losing side.
In 1986, Ablett became a born-again Christian and has been said to be slightly aggrieved at constantly being referred to as "God" by fans, a nickname based on his virtually limitless abilities, conjuring goals in the most unlikely circumstances. Ablett announced his retirement from football due to personal reasons prior to the 1991 season, but then made a comeback halfway through that year.
Ablett won three consecutive Coleman Medals, for the most goals kicked in a season, in 1993, 1994, and 1995. In those three seasons, he broke the 100-goal barrier each time — a rare feat in Australian Rules. He represented Victoria in State of Origin games eleven times, being the side's captain in 1995. He made the All-Australian team seven times, in 1984, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, and 1995, as well as being selected in both the AFL and Geelong Teams of the Century. In total, Ablett played 242 games, and kicked 1,021 goals.
Although Ablett will perhaps be remembered most for his 1989 grand final performance as well as his final four seasons at full forward (1993-1996), his performances in the 1980s are too often overlooked. Playing at half-forward, a non-key scoring role, in 1985 he kicked 82 goals from 20 games, 1986 yielded 65 goals from 15 games, 53 goals from 17 games in '87, 82 goals from 21 games in 1988 as well as 87 goals from 23 games in his stellar year, 1989. The fact that Ablett was able to dominate scoring at club level, as well as at league level while playing on the half forward flank shows just how much of a fine athlete he was.
Towards the end of his career Ablett bulked up to an intimidating size. Renowned as much for his explosive pace and power as his freakish skills, Ablett was also an accomplished aerialist. With strong hands, Ablett became a master of the pack mark, regularly taking spectacular marks in his career, with a highlight being the 1994 Mark of the Year over Collingwood's Gary Pert on Mothers' Day in 1994 at the MCG, a mark which was informally dubbed by many as the 'Mark of the Century'.
At the end of the 1997 season, Ablett announced he would be retiring. He had never been able to deal with the media well, and this may be why, unlike many renowned footballers, Ablett did not become involved in sports broadcasting after his retirement.
Sporting family
Ablett's eldest son, Gary Ablett Jr. has followed in his footsteps and now plays for Geelong, as one of the club's most exciting and popular players. Another son, Nathan, was drafted by Geelong at the end of 2004, after initially refusing to play AFL Football because of his father's experience. Nathan has made an impressive contribution in front of goal since his premature promotion to the senior list late in the 2005 season. Gary's nephew, Luke Ablett, has forged a successful career with the Sydney Swans.
(son)
(son)
(brother)
(brother)
(nephew)
(nephew)
(nephew)
Post-career controversies
Ablett became involved in controversy when a young Geelong woman, Alicia Horan, nineteen, died of a drug overdose while in Ablett's hotel room [2]. Some have suggested that it was Ablett's inability to adjust to life after football that led to his involvement with drugs. Whilst Ablett faced no charges over the incident, the initial coroner's inquest did suggest that his negligence had played a role in her death, and much of the media coverage was critical of Ablett. He was later convicted in the Geelong Magistrates Court on drug possession charges and has since undergone several attempts at rehabilitation.
It is generally believed that this incident in particular, is responsible for the AFL Hall of Fame Committee's initial refusal to admit Ablett. In 2004 however, after several years of being overlooked, Ablett asked the Geelong Football Club to stop nominating him, a request that was granted. However on 2 June 2005, against all expectations, it was announced that Ablett would be inducted into the Hall of Fame the following week. [3]
Following this incident the term Gary Ablett is widely used in Australia as rhyming slang for tablet, with reference to ecstacy tablets [citation needed].
In June 2006, Gary Ablett was voted the Greatest Geelong Player Ever, by past and present players of the Geelong Football Club. His acceptance of the award was tarnished however, when he tried to sell his acceptance speech to a television network for $20,000. Ablett filmed the acceptance speech while in hospital after severly cutting his leg with a lawn-mower.
References
- ^ Ablett for sale, Herald Sun, January 22, 2006
- ^ Revealed: what took place in the hotel room, The Age, March 1, 2003
- ^ Ablett's Hall of Fame exile to end, ABC Sport, June 2, 2005