Geelong confident Gary Ablett’s hamstring injury won’t rule him out for Round 1

WHILE Gary Ablett was never going to play in Geelong’s opening JLT hitout, the Cats star is in doubt for the second pre-season game after his latest hamstring setback.

Gary Ablett injured his hamstring at training. Picture: Alison Wynd

GARY Ablett could head into Geelong’s blockbuster season opener against Melbourne without a pre-season game under his belt after his latest hamstring setback.

Geelong has confirmed the superstar midfielder strained a hamstring in match simulation training last Thursday.

The Cats were hopeful the problem was only tightness, but scans over the weekend showed the dual Brownlow medallist had suffered damage to the muscle.

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While Ablett, 33, was never in line to play in the first JLT pre-season game against Gold Coast in Townsville on Sunday, the latest soft tissue drama has put him in doubt for the second JLT pre-season game against Essendon in Colac on March 11.

It means the father-son gem will have to rely on intra-club form to find touch before stepping out against the Dees in Round 1.

The Cats said the hamstring tweak was only minor and are certain their dazzling recruit will line-up against Melbourne alongside gun midfield teammates Patrick Dangerfield and Joel Selwood at the MCG on Sunday March 25.

Gary Ablett injured his hamstring at training. Picture: Alison Wynd

Geelong football manager Simon Lloyd said the club was buoyed by Ablett’s progress in recent days.

“He is still a chance for that (JLT 2 against Essendon),” Lloyd said.

“But he really has had an impressive summer and we know Gary is an ultimate pro.

“And the good thing is we have done a lot of combative training and match simulation-type training over the preseason, so he has had a lot of volume (of work) up until this point.

“We still want to be cautious with Gary, like we are all with all of our players.

“But he will be ready to go for Round 1.”

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Ablett will be on modified training program over the next fortnight and likely undergo a fitness test to determine his availability for the final warm-up match against the Bombers.

But the injury is still an unwanted disruption for Ablett after an otherwise mostly uninterrupted summer.

Gary Ablett has had a faultless pre-season until now. Picture: Alison Wynd

One of the greatest players of the modern era, Ablett returned home to Geelong for family reasons and to help win a third premiership with the Cats.

The club will take no risks with the gun playmaker ahead of his first regular season game back in the blue and white hoops since his departure in 2010.

It is the first hurdle for Ablett since returning to Geelong in a highly-anticipated trade last year, after seven seasons without a single finals appearance at the Suns.

The Cats are adamant Ablett has enjoyed a faultless pre-season up until last week’s setback, which continued his hamstring problems from last season up north.

Ablett suffered some hamstring tendonitis issues last year which, combined with some recurring shoulder woes, limited him to only 14 games in 2017.

He has played only 34 games in the past three seasons.

But track watchers have been impressed by his recent blistering form in match simulation over the past month.