Gary Ablett Sr.

Gary Robert Ablett (born 1 October 1961) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who represented and in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Nicknamed "God", Ablett is widely regarded as one of Australian football's greatest players, and was especially renowned for his high-flying spectacular marks and his prolific goalkicking.

After playing for several country teams in and around his hometown of Drouin, Victoria, Ablett was recruited by Hawthorn and made his Victorian Football League (VFL) debut in 1982.

However, he struggled to adjust to city life and retreated to Myrtleford the following year.

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.

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.

The Geelong Football Club managed to lure him back to professional football in 1984, and by the late '80s, he had become one of the VFL's biggest stars.

After protracted negotiations with Hawthorn, Geelong finally paid a $60,000 transfer for Ablett in 1984.

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.

Ablett earned best-on-ground honours after kicking 8 goals from the half-forward flank.

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.

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.

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.

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.

His 1989 VFL Grand Final appearance, during which he kicked a grand final record nine goals for a losing side (and tying the outright grand final record with Gordon Coventry), is regarded as one of football's greatest individual performances, earning him the Norm Smith Medal.

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, the finest footballers he had seen at Geelong.

At the beginning of the 1991 season, Ablett shocked the football world by abruptly announcing his retirement from the game, but he made a comeback midway through the year.

Ablett's individual accolades and achievements include an induction into the Australian Football Hall of Fame, an AFL Team of the Century selection, the 1993 AFL Players Association MVP award (now known as the Leigh Matthews Trophy), and three Coleman Medals.

He remains Geelong's all-time leading goalkicker, with 1021 goals; and, in 2006, was voted by past and present Geelong Football Club players as the greatest Geelong footballer of all time.

Born in Drouin to Alfred and Colleen Ablett, Gary Ablett grew up in Gippsland, Victoria, alongside his four elder brothers and three sisters.

Ablett displayed a love for sport at an early age, winning the state school high jump at 10 years of age.

He was also awarded both club and competition best-and-fairest awards for Drouin at the under-11s, under-12s and under-14s levels.

After his interest waned in attending school, Ablett dropped out of high school at 15 to become a bricklayer's labourer.

He also began to concentrate on his football and joined his brothers in the Drouin senior team at just 16 years of age.

After appearing in several country league representative games, the Hawthorn Football Club, which had already signed Gary's elder brothers Geoff and Kevin onto their lists, invited him to play reserves football.

After signing a reserves contract and featuring in six reserves games for Hawthorn, Ablett retreated back to his home in Drouin.

He went on to appear in the 1992, 1994, and 1995 grand finals, before officially retiring after on September 25, 1997.