There’s a tragic reason Gary Ablett can’t be a Hall of Fame Legend, writes Mark Robinson

NO matter what we all think of him as a footballer, Gary Ablett’s acceptance as a Legend can’t be justified for quite some time, writes Mark Robinson. There’s a tragic story we must not forget.

Gary Ablett during a State of Origin team photograph in 1996.

THE general consensus is the next Australian football Hall of Fame Legend will be either Jason Dunstall, Gary Ablett Snr, Wayne Carey or Greg Williams.

It is a flawed consensus, Ablett cannot be a Legend for some time.

No one knows how long that will be, but it will not be now. Maybe not for 10 years, 20 years, maybe not for 50 years.

LEGEND: SHEEDY’S CAREER-CHANGING WORDS TO LLOYD

GENIUS: KEVIN SHEEDY’S WEIRD, WONDERFUL MOMENTS

PREVIEW: WHO WILL BE THE NEXT LEGEND OF THE HALL?

When Kevin Sheedy was elevated to Legend status on Tuesday night, in yet another prestigious gathering of the greatest players and coaches still alive, there was unanimous, heartfelt and instinctive acceptance.

There was a warmth about Sheedy’s selection.

Inside Palladium at Crown, he received a standing ovation not for what he said on the night, but for what he has given the game over more than 50 years.

Newly inducted Hall of Fame Legend Kevin Sheedy.

There’s not another night on the football calendar where love and acceptance abounds. Not love as in we love you Kev, but love in terms of respect, admiration and honour.

Legend status is the highest standing in our game. Rugby league calls its people Immortals. It’s a brilliant description. Our blokes are also immortals.

The very names are the essence and excellence of Australian rules: Barassi, Matthews, Skilton, Jesaulenko, McHale, Coleman and Bartlett, to name a few.

Legend status beckoned Sheedy with a big smile and open arms.

The same cannot be said of Ablett and the reason is tragic.

Gary Ablett lines up for goal in 1996. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

Time heals, but it cannot evaporate what took place in Room 1265 at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Melbourne in February, 2000.

Alisha Horan, 20, died as a result of what happened there and what had happened in the days preceding.

There had been a bender on booze and drugs and on the fateful night, Ablett gave her heroin after telling her it was cocaine.

“She asked what it was,’’ Ablett later told police. “I didn’t really want her knowing that it was what it was. And I told her it was cocaine. And she wanted some.’’

Ablett was 42.

People can judge how much responsibility Ablett should carry, as well as how much responsibility the woman - who had “become enmeshed in a culture of alcoholism and drug-taking with her football hero”, Coroner Noreen Toohey said - should take for own death.

She was an adult, after all.

Those supporting Ablett’s elevation to Legend will say sufficient time has passed and he already is a member of the Australian football Hall of Fame, having been accepted and approved under the important “character’’ criteria.

Gary Ablett outside Melbourne Coroner's Court in 2001.

Ablett became eligible in 2001 but selectors waited until 2005 to induct him. It was a contentious period because football was wrestling with its conscience.

The Horan family, meanwhile, was and almost certainly is still wrestling with the agony of Alisha’s death.

Ablett’s disdain for the Hall of Fame is obvious. True, he has battled illness for stages of his life and has shunned football post-career, but he has never attended a single Hall of Fame ceremony. He didn’t turn up the night he was inducted.

As a footballer, he was magic. His package of speed, power, strength and an astonishing skill set of marking and kicking made him the most explosive and entertaining footballer over almost a decade and a half.

But is that enough?

Should the events in a hotel room 17 years ago still be considered?

Does time truly heal?

The Hall of Fame selection committee clearly has a difficult decision to make, not only on Ablett, but also Carey, another colossal talent who is in this discussion only because he is one of the rare few worthy of Legend distinction.

Wayne Carey in action for North Melbourne during the 1999 Grand Final.

Carey also has had his issues and the question that has to be asked by selectors is: What is the cut-off point for “character’’ when it comes to Legend status?

The HoF charter states the selection committee “may consider individual record, ability, integrity, sportsmanship and character”.

It adds: “Such decisions are at the committee’s discretion.’’

The committee might easily tick off Carey when the next Legend position is available, which probably will be in 2020, and not many footy folk would disagree if, in fact, it is the North Melbourne champion.

Certainly, he has turned his life around. He is the face and respected analyst of Channel 7 football, a doting father and living proof that second or even third chances can be given and accepted with open arms. He’s also honoured and humbled to be a Hall of Fame member and was there on Tuesday night.

It’s also worth noting Carey is not the only player who has made mistakes but found himself in the Hall of Fame.

Mistakes, of course, should be graded and, arguably, should be judged in greater depth when determining the distinction between being a Hall of Fame Legend and a Hall of Fame member.

It is, after all, the most exalted group in the history of the game.

Carey’s in for mine, for what it’s worth.

Ablett is not, because no matter what we all think of him as a footballer, his acceptance as a Legend can’t be justified.

A dead woman cannot be forgotten.

Watch every match of every round of the 2018 Toyota AFL Premiership Season. SIGN UP NOW >