Gary Ablett Sr.

After signing a reserves contract and featuring in six reserves games for Hawthorn, Ablett retreated back to his home in Drouin. He returned to Hawthorn in 1982 and made his senior VFL debut versus Geelong in Round 2, kicking 1 goal and helping the Hawks defeat the Cats by 19 points. He played a further five games for Hawthorn that year for a total of six games and ten goals. Ablett claimed difficulty coping with city life in Melbourne and his continual absenteeism from training sessions forced Hawthorn coach, Allan Jeans into parting ways with the talented, but wayward young half forward.

In 1983, he moved with his young family to the country town of Myrtleford.[2] Ablett spent the year playing under the tutelage of his cousin Len Ablett for Myrtleford in the Ovens and Murray Football League. Ablett's footballing ability soon came on notice again, this time to the Geelong Football Club and their long-time recruiting officer Bill McMaster. McMaster convinced Ablett to give the game another shot, this time in the confines of the rural city of Geelong. After protracted negotiations with Hawthorn, Geelong finally paid a $60,000 transfer for Ablett in 1984.[2]

Ablett signed a one-year contract for the 1984 season with Geelong, and he began his first season under the guidance of Tom Hafey. He debuted for the Cats in Round 1 and after just nine games on the wing, Ablett was selected to his first State of Origin game for Victoria.[2] Ablett earned best-on-ground honours after kicking 8 goals from the half-forward flank.[2] He played 15 games and kicked 33 goals in the 1984 season, and was awarded the Carji Greeves Medal as the Geelong Football Club's "best and fairest" player of the year. Following his first season with Geelong, Ablett signed a new three-year contract with the club.[2]

Playing mostly on the half forward flank, Ablett won the club's goalkicking award for the following two seasons with 82 and 65 goals respectively.[2] Although Ablett had developed a reputation for his laconic, lazy attitude to training under coach John Devine, this did not prevent him from earning top three placings in the best and fairest awards from 1985 to 1987.

With his contract expiring at the conclusion of the 1987 season, Ablett shocked the VFL by signing a new five-year contract with his former club, Hawthorn. After a "cooling-off" period, however, Ablett opted to remain with Geelong by agreeing to a lucrative five-year contract that tied him to the club for the long-term.[7]

Ablett began the 1988 season with 59 goals after just 11 games, placing him second on the goalkicking list behind Hawthorn's Jason Dunstall. In these games, he kicked 10 goals against Richmond in the Anzac Day game, and 11 against Brisbane—one shy of breaking the ground record of 12 goals at Carrara. Although he missed out on State honours and failed to place within the top three in the club best and fairest award, Ablett finished with 82 goals during the season for the second time in his career.

The 1989 season was marked by the arrival of Ablett's third coach, former North Melbourne Brownlow Medallist Malcolm Blight. Ablett helped the Cats reach the finals on the back of a ten match winning streak to end the regular season. In a 134-point victory against Richmond, Ablett scored 14 goals, breaking a 22-year club record, and moving club legend and former club premiership coach Bobby Davis to laud Ablett as the equal of the legendary Graham 'Polly' Farmer,[7] the finest footballers he had seen at Geelong. His season lowlight occurred in Round 12 when he was suspended for 3 matches after he controversially felled the Melbourne captain, Gary Lyon behind the play.

In his first ever final, the Qualifying Final at the MCG versus Essendon, Gary Ablett kicked three goals, but this was not enough. The Bombers humbled Geelong by 76 points to force the Cats into a sudden-death Semi Final showdown with Melbourne. The Cats posted a 63-point win against the Demons. Ablett kicked seven goals, and helped set up another meeting with Essendon in the Preliminary Final. Ablett kicked 8 goals this time, as the Cats crushed Essendon by 94 points to advance to their first grand final since 1967.[7]

Against the reigning premiers Hawthorn in the 1989 VFL Grand Final, Ablett asserted himself from the opening bounce, leading out from full forward, marking the first centre clearance kick and slotting through the game's first goal. By half-time, Ablett had kicked four goals, but the Cats trailed at the main break by 37 points. Ablett kicked a further five goals in the second half, which saw an injury-depleted Hawthorn's lead reduced to just 6 points with less than a minute to go. However, the Cats fell short, and Hawthorn held on to defeat Geelong in one of the toughest grand finals of the modern era, winning by 6 points. Ablett's performance in kicking 9 goals earned him the Norm Smith Medal, and in doing so became only the second member of the losing team in VFL/AFL history to be awarded the honour – a performance regarded by many as unrivalled on football's biggest stage. Ablett's 9 goals also saw him equal Gordon Coventry's goals record set in the 1928 Grand Final.

On 1 February 1991, Ablett, aged 29, stunned most football fans when he announced his retirement, citing personal reasons and a loss of enjoyment for the game. His previous season in 1990 was marred by injury, dipping motivation, and personal issues, including a separation from his wife. He was eventually encouraged to reverse his decision and he made his return in Round 12 for the Geelong reserves team. This generated enormous media interest and drew an abnormally large crowd for the curtain-raiser game at Princes Park. Ablett was named in the senior side for the following game against Melbourne, which drew a crowd of over 40,000 to the MCG.[Note 1] He had ten possessions and kicked two goals, one of them an important steadier for the Cats in the last quarter after the Demons had closed to within 24 points.[9] Due to his late season start and lack of conditioning, it was probably no surprise that Ablett failed to recapture his best form, ending his season on a sour note when he was suspended for striking St Kilda rover Nathan Burke in the first week of the finals, and he subsequently missed Geelong's finals defeats to Hawthorn and West Coast.

Ablett put the disappointment of 1991 behind him, and he dedicated himself to improving his fitness base ahead of the 1992 season. A consistent first half of the year helped the Cats achieve an 11–3 record, eventually earning them a spot in the grand final—this time against the West Coast Eagles. After establishing a two-goal lead at half-time, the Cats failed to sustain their momentum during the second half, eventually going down by 28 points to the fast-finishing Eagles. Ablett, who finished with 3 goals, had again failed to finish the year with the same good form in which he had begun it.

Before the 1993 season, Ablett was encouraged by his coach, Malcolm Blight, to move from his customary roaming half-forward position to full-forward, in an effort to prolong his career. The move up forward proved to be a master-stroke, with Ablett thriving in his goal-kicking role, reaching the 50-goal mark in just six games, equalling the sixty-year record of South Melbourne legend Bob Pratt. He brought up his maiden century of goals in the season just eight games later, one game slower than record-holder Pratt, and became the first Geelong player to kick 100 goals in a season since Larry Donohue in 1976. Although the Cats did not make the Finals, Ablett's new-found dominance up forward was highlighted during the season with his bags of ten or more goals on five occasions, including a 14-goal performance against Essendon in Round 6. His end-of-season total of 124 goals, achieved in just 17 appearances, earned him his first Coleman Medal as the League's leading goal-scorer, the Leigh Matthews Trophy, the AFMA Player of the Year Award, and a top-ten placing in the Brownlow Medal.

Ablett continued his dominance as a full-forward in 1994 and 1995 by winning the Coleman Medal in each year. Ablett is the only player in VFL/AFL history to kick 100 goals and win the Coleman Medal in three successive seasons. In addition to his explosive pace and skills, Ablett was also an accomplished aerialist with strong hands. A highlight was the 1994 Mark of the Year over Collingwood's Gary Pert on Mother's Day at the MCG, a mark which is captured in Jamie Cooper's painting the Game That Made Australia, commissioned by the AFL in 2008 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the sport.[11] There is still debate over whether he had enough control of the ball to be paid a mark.[10]

In early 1996, Ablett was suspended for five games for striking St Kilda's 172 cm Kristian Bardsley with a raised forearm. He later remarked that his lengthy suspension was the "beginning of the end", and he finished out the season with 69 goals in 17 games. His last AFL appearance was against North Melbourne in a Qualifying Final in 1996. Ablett managed to kick only one goal in a disappointing 60-point loss. In October 1996, he missed Geelong's first training session and was fined $10,000.[12]

On 22 November 1996, Ablett was admitted to hospital with a severe bout of gastro. On 28 November, Ablett faced traffic charges.[12]

Ablett was ready to start the serious training with the club by the first week of January. By February, it was reported that he was still under pressure to improve his fitness. In March, Geelong confirmed that Ablett would play in 1997. On Sunday, 31 March 1997, Ablett played in the reserves against Richmond. Gary booted 7 goals but injured his knee. Three days later, on 3 April, he underwent arthroscopic surgery. In early June, Ablett had still not recovered; he faced knee surgery. During the preliminary finals in September, he announced his retirement from football.[12]

Ablett had a prolific State of Origin career, kicking 43 goals in 11 games. He was first selected to play for Victoria in 1984, against Western Australia, only nine games into his career at Geelong, kicking 8 goals in a best-on-ground performance.[13]

He performed well again the following year, kicking 4 goals against South Australia. In the following few years Ablett was largely out of the side, apart from 1987, when he kicked 2 goals against South Australia. Ablett again performed at the highest level in 1990, kicking 6 goals, against Western Australia in Perth. After returning from retirement midway through 1991, and after only several games, Ablett was controversially selected for Victoria, kicking 2 goals. In 1992 Ablett performed well, kicking 3 goals and being named among the best players, against Western Australia.[14]

In 1993, he kicked 4 goals, against a combined New South Wales–Australian Capital Territory side, and in the same year Ablett again performed on the big stage, kicking 5 goals in the State of Origin Carnival Grand Final. In 1994, he kicked 4 goals, against South Australia, in what has been regarded as "one of the greatest Australian football games of all time"[15] and followed up that performance with 4 goals against South Australia in 1995. On representing Victoria, Ablett has said "I've always found it a tremendous honour to represent your state, in a State of Origin game".[16]

Despite his footballing achievements on the field, Ablett's induction into the Australian Football Hall of Fame was initially delayed. Despite Ablett's undoubted footballing credentials, his well-publicised contribution to the death of Alisha Horan was responsible for the Australian Football Hall of Fame committee's reluctance to induct him.[20] In 2004, after several years of speculation over his induction, Ablett personally requested that the Geelong Football Club stop nominating him for selection, which the club agreed to. However, the following year it was announced that Ablett would be inducted into the Hall of Fame as part of the 2005 intake.[21]

Ablett did not attend the induction ceremony and instead released a statement through his then-manager, Michael Baker:[22]

"Due to my current battle with depression I am not in a position to be able to accept this award in person. I did not make this decision lightly but due to medical advice it was deemed best for my health that I do not attend tonight. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to play this great game and also to have played at the elite level alongside many celebrated champions. Being chosen to be inducted into the Hall of Fame is one of the highest honours a player could dream of. I thank those who deem me worthy enough to be placed alongside such respected company."

Two of Ablett's brothers played in the Victorian Football League – Kevin Ablett, who played for Hawthorn, Richmond and Geelong, and Geoff Ablett, who played for Hawthorn, Richmond and St Kilda.

Ablett's eldest son, Gary Jr., has followed in his footsteps to play for Geelong. In 2007 and 2009, Ablett Jr. won the Cats' best and fairest award, emulating a feat established by his father in his first season with the Cats back in 1984; he also won the Brownlow Medal in 2009 and 2013. Another son, Nathan, was drafted in 2004 (48th pick) by Geelong under the father-son rule. Nathan initially refused to play AFL Football because of his father's experience with the media, but, with encouragement from the club, was signed ahead of the 2005 AFL Season and established himself in the full forward role Gary Sr. made his own.

On 29 September 2007, both Gary Jr. and Nathan contributed to Geelong winning its first flag in 44 years, capturing the premiership that proved elusive to Gary Snr in his 12 years at the club. Nathan retired suddenly before the 2008 season, but he and his brother Gary Jr. were members of the Gold Coast Football Club's inaugural team for the 2011 season.

In addition to his sons, Ablett has a nephew, Luke Ablett, who played for the Sydney Swans and won a premiership with them in 2005. Two other nephews, from his sister's marriage to Hawthorn legend Michael Tuck, also played in the AFL – Richmond's Shane Tuck and Travis Tuck, who played for Hawthorn.

Ablett had well-documented off-field problems, particularly with illegal drug use, and depression in the wake of the Alisha Horan death. In 1990, Ablett was placed on a $10,000 good behaviour bond after he pleaded guilty to repeatedly hitting a man he found sitting in a car with his estranged wife.[29]

In 2000, Ablett was investigated, charged and convicted of four drug offences as a result of nineteen-year-old Geelong woman Alisha Horan dying of a drug overdose (involving heroin, ecstasy and amphetamines) while in Ablett's hotel room. After a prolonged period of refusing to answer police questions and refusing to answer questions at an April 2001 inquest (on the grounds that he may incriminate himself), Ablett later admitted to providing Horan with heroin and ecstasy. Horan had found a small quantity of heroin in Ablett's coat pocket and asked him what it was. Rather than admit that it was heroin, Ablett told her it was cocaine, which they both then ingested, leading to Horan's overdose. Ablett wasn't charged with manslaughter, but he pleaded guilty to four lesser charges, was convicted, and fined $1500.[30]