Gary Ablett has a strong desire to finish his AFL career with Geelong
GARY Ablett’s return to Geelong is a live prospect, despite the superstar being contracted to the Gold Coast until the end of next season.
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GARY Ablett’s return to Geelong is a live prospect, despite the superstar being contracted to the Gold Coast until the end of next season.
The Herald Sun understands Ablett, 32, has a strong desire to finish his career with the club where he started 16 seasons ago.
Although club officials wouldn’t go on the record on Tuesday, the Cats are open to Ablett returning.
The homecoming would form arguably the most illustrious on-ball trio in the game’s history — Ablett, Patrick Dangerfield and Joel Selwood.
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Geelong coach Chris Scott has never shied away from the romance of an Ablett return.
“I’m probably like most Geelong supporters, I’ve always held onto the pipe dream that he might come back one day,” Scott said last year.
Scott joined the Cats one year after Ablett moved north.
The Suns blocked Ablett’s bid to move home after the 2016 season and they still control the future of the dual Brownlow medallist, who extended his contract by three years at the end of 2015 for an estimated $1 million a year.
Ablett’s manager, Liam Pickering, last year said “it would have to take something extraordinary” for the favourite son to return, but circumstances have changed markedly since then. Pickering declined to comment on Tuesday.
Late last year outspoken Gold Coast chairman Tony Cochrane declared: “Why would Gary want to leave a club that’s going to finish in the top-four (2017) and have a real chance at having a shake at the big dance the following year?”
Cochrane went on to say Ablett had committed to the club until the end of his current contract.
Geelong would have to satisfy Gold Coast with a trade if Ablett were to move home.
The Cats have traded early draft picks over the past two seasons for deals involving Dangerfield and Zach Tuohy.
Ablett would need to fit into the Cats’ pay structure and accept a figure less than the $800,000 Dangerfield and Selwood are believed to earn.
One insider said Ablett understands a move will involve a hefty pay cut, but he is prepared to take one to return to his family and to play with a club that has the potential to add to the premierships he won in 2007 and 2009.
His return would bring a huge financial upside for Geelong, including expected record membership numbers in the first full season of the new grandstand at Simonds Stadium.
Scott would be able to play at least one of Ablett, Dangerfield or Selwood forward at all times, with Ablett’s obvious goal instincts and advanced age likely to see him playing forward more than on-ball.
The Cats would need to be assured he is medically sound after a succession of injuries in recent years and that he was capable of something near his best form.
When contacted on Tuesday, Geelong said it wouldn’t be making any comment on Ablett’s future.
Originally published as Gary Ablett has a strong desire to finish his AFL career with Geelong
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