Gary Ablett Sr pays son Gary glowing tribute as he reaches 350th game milestone
He achieved feats few footballers have during his playing career, but a premiership eluded Gary Ablett Sr. He opens up on how his sons helped him fill the void after Gary Jr reached 350 games.
Geelong
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One football moment will forever remain with Gary Ablett Sr and it took place a decade after his own stellar career had ended.
It was a Saturday afternoon at the MCG on September 29 when Ablett took his seat among 97,302 to watch his sons Gary Jr and Nathan achieve premiership success, a dream he didn’t fulfil despite four attempts with Geelong. For Ablett that one-sided afternoon made up for his own losses.
“The highlight was seeing Gary and Nathan play in the 2007 premiership, especially after me playing in four losing ones. It more than made up for it all,” Ablett, 58, said this week.
“For all Gary has achieved, premierships and Brownlows and so on, 2007 was undoubtedly the highlight for me to see them both playing together in the premiership.”
On Saturday, Ablett Sr watched his eldest son become only the 17th footballer to play 350 VFL/AFL games, although he was unable to attend the game in person due to COVID-19 restrictions. He regarded that as a small price to pay for an outbreak he takes extremely seriously.
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Like his eldest son, Ablett played at AFL level into his 36th year, making the pair part of a rare club to reach that playing age.
“I possibly could have played another year or two but I’m glad I didn’t because now it’s catching up with me with knees and back. So for an on-baller to get to 36 these days is an incredible effort,” Ablett said.
“While Gary has surpassed everyone’s expectations including mine, it’s been a privilege to see the character he has shown on and off the field. I always thought he and Nathan had the ability and football awareness, but you never really know until they get to the highest level and see how they handle it. When you have the ability you naturally adjust to the pace of the game as Nathan and Gary did.
“As a player the way Gary has dealt with taggers week in, week out, the way they harass opponents in an unfair manner at times takes a lot of character. I’m naturally proud of his football achievements but even more so of the man he’s become.”
Ablett Sr is these days a proud grandfather of Kai and Levi, Kai being the 15-year-old son of his eldest daughter Natasha and Levi the first child born to Gary Jr and his wife Jordan.
“I’m very proud of my two grandsons and we feel honoured for the contribution our family has made to the game,” Ablett said.
Ablett Sr played 242 games with Geelong from 1984-1996 and reignited his career at age 22 after he played six matches with Hawthorn in 1982. In 1996 he was named in the AFL Team of the Century after he won three straight Coleman medals when switched to full-forward in 1993.
Despite playing the majority of his career at half-forward and wing, Ablett still kicked a remarkable 1031 goals from his 248 games from 1982-96.
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