Gary Ablett Jr says the Gold Coast Suns failed to develop their recruits adequately in their inaugural 2011 season

During an in-depth interview in Darwin, AFL legend Gary Ablett Jr has revealed the Gold Coast Suns erred in their inaugural year and his son’s health battles.

AFL legend Gary Ablett Jr has revealed the big mistake the Gold Coast Suns made in their inaugural season after he left Geelong in a multimillion-dollar deal at the end of 2010.

In a wide-ranging interview, the two-time Brownlow medallist also opened up on his tough departure from the Cats, how he thought his career was over midway through the 2020 season, his son Levi’s health battles and breaking a vow to return to the footy field with Palmerston in the NTFL.

Ablett Jr admitted he stepped away from football for a couple of years – retiring after the 2020 AFL grand final – to see if he missed the game (“I’m not missing it at the moment”), focusing on family, some online businesses and his burgeoning charity, Active Faith.

But that changed when close friend and former teammate Mathew Stokes asked him to come and play for his junior club, the Magpies, on November 18 at TIO Stadium.

Gary Ablett Jr returned to the football field for the first time in two years. Picture: (A)manda Parkinson.

Meanwhile, the 38-year-old revealed the decision to leave Geelong, where he made his debut in Round 1 of 2002, was hard but it was beneficial for his personal development.

“It was probably the hardest decision I’ve had to make in my life,” Ablett Jr said.

“But for my growth as a person, moving myself away from home, and moving to a place where I really didn’t know too many people (it was beneficial).”

However, he said the Suns erred by not honing the skills of their battery of high end draft picks.

Alongside Ablett, Gold Coast would take David Swallow, Harley Bennell and Sam Day with the first three selections in the 2010 national draft, followed by Josh Caddy, Dion Prestia, Daniel Gorringe and Tom Lynch, with picks seven and 9-11.

Ablett after his final game with Geelong, the 2020 grand final. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images.

But the club did not spend enough time focusing on the basics and fundamentals of football, Ablett argued.

“If I could of changed anything it would have been the way we developed the guys,” he said.

“Most of the champions in our great game … they’re just players who do the basics well.

“I think that’s one mistake that we made.

“We had so many high draft picks we probably thought that it was just going to happen.”

Ablett Jr at a press conference in 2010 where he announced he was leaving Geelong for the Gold Coast. Picture: Michael Klein.

However, when it came to his own skills development, Ablett Jr said he sought out the requisite research to ensure he would “learn to do it right”.

“The amount of young kids I see coming into the system these days, they’re all just about ticking a box,” he said.

“They’ll do a 100 extra kicks, a 100 extra handballs, do some extra laps but they’re not doing it right, they don’t see that improvement.”

Ablett Jr said his own footballing development was slowed in his teenage years, preferring to be a surfer based in Jan Juc than follow in the footsteps of his superstar father.

“I probably struggled a bit through my teenage years,” he said of footballing expectations.

“I actually lost interest in footy for a couple of years.

“I wanted to be a pro surfer for about 12 months until I figured out I wasn’t good enough.”

Fast forward to his final AFL season, Ablett Jr thought his career was over a month or so out from a potential finals campaign.

The two-time Brownlow medallist and premiership star said he made the “really difficult decision” to leave the team in a Perth hub in July of that year due to some off-field issues.

“I had some personal stuff going on in my life,” Ablett Jr said.

“I actually thought that was the end of my career.”

Ablett Jr left the Perth hub in July, 2020, thinking his career was over. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images.

However, he was able to catch a chartered flight with other players and some AFL personnel to the Gold Coast hub for September action, where an approximately 20m x 20m oval was set up for personal training.

While stepping away from the game, Ablett Jr remained frustrated with the league constantly changing the rules, preferring for them to be trialled in the pre-season.

“I think they make too many rule changes,” Ablett Jr said.

“I don’t think the players have enough of a say.

“I know within the media you probably read that the players agree to a lot of the rule changes, that’s not the case.”

However, he was stoked to see the Cats win the premiership this season, marvelling at the efforts of former teammates in Joel Selwood and Tom Hawkins, plus Jeremy Cameron (“the best recruit we’ve had in a long time”), believing Geelong was “too defensive” in previous seasons.

He also thought next season is “open” for a back-to-back flag despite the retirement of Selwood and Geelong’s older list.

Geelong skipper Joel Selwood carries Levi Ablett onto the MCG before the 2022 AFL grand final. Picture: Michael Klein.

He said his son Levi, who turns four in January, loved going onto the field with Selwood before the match.

“It was such a special day,” he said.

“I wasn’t sure how Levi was going to go with a stadium full of 100,000 people.

“But he loved it. You couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.”

He admitted Levi’s health battles had been tough on the family.

“He requires 24/7 care, he’s got a pretty serious condition,” he said.

“It’s been a tough journey for my wife and I … but I’ve really enjoyed being his dad.”

Originally published as Gary Ablett Jr says the Gold Coast Suns failed to develop their recruits adequately in their inaugural 2011 season