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Gary Ablett, Jr.

Gary Ablett, Jnr (born 14 May 1984) is an Australian rules football player for the Geelong Football Club. A midfielder/forward at and , he is the eldest son of AFL Hall of Famer Gary Ablett, Snr. Ablett was part of the Cats' premiership-winning team in 2007. He is also a dual Leigh Matthews Trophy winner as the AFLPA Most Valuable Player, has won a Carji Greeves Medal, and was selected to the All-Australian side in 2007 and 2008.

Career

Early career

Gary Jr. was picked up by the Cats under the father-son rule and made his senior debut in 2002. He was selected 12 times in his first season and spent half of the year playing in the reserves, highlighted by helping the Geelong VFL side capture the 2002 VFL Premiership against Port Melbourne at Optus Oval.

2007

After spending five seasons as a dynamic small forward who occasionally pushed up the ground, Ablett, armed with improved fitness levels and a newfound ability to overcome taggers, made the permanent move to the midfield in 2007, where he has grown to become one of the best and most influential midfielders/forward pocket/rover forward in the game. This was reflected in his outright favouritism in the 2007 Brownlow Medal, awarded to the player adjudged by the umpires as the best and fairest player in the AFL, his sweeping of individual media awards for the season, and his selection as first rover in the 2007 All-Australian team. However, Ablett ultimately lost out on the 2007 Brownlow Medal to his Geelong teammate Jimmy Bartel. Ablett capped off his outstanding year with a solid performance in the record breaking Grand Final win over Port Adelaide.

Ablett took out a number of media awards and was voted by other players in the AFL as the Most Valuable Player for 2007.

He was the recipient of the Carji Greeves Medal awarded to the club's best and fairest player for the season. The 2007 Brownlow Medallist, Jimmy Bartel, was runner-up. Ablett polled 691 votes - 178 votes more than Bartel. Ablett joins his father with the medal, Gary Ablett Sr. received the award in 1984 - in his first year at the club.

2008

Ablett took his game to yet another level in 2008, establishing himself as one of the shortest Brownlow Medal favourites ever by midseason. His hold on the medal was perceived to be so great that upon injuring his ankle in Round 15 against Fremantle, bookmakers suspended betting on the Brownlow amid rumours his injury was going to keep him out for the rest of the season as opposed to the 1-2 weeks initially reported. He returned in round 19 against Melbourne and found near top form the next week against top four contenders, Sydney, and was still one of the Brownlow favourites despite his three week absence. Ultimately, however, he scored 22 votes and the 2008 Brownlow Medal was closely won by Adam Cooney.

Statistics

Statistics are correct as of 7 September 2008 (Elimination Final)

Season	Team	No.	Games	Disposals	Kicks	Handballs	Marks	Tackles	Goals	Behinds
2002	Geelong	29	12	100	37	63	13	25	10	3
2003	Geelong	29	22	327	189	138	61	77	26	20
2004	Geelong	29	21	301	178	123	46	93	35	25
2005	Geelong	29	24	435	257	178	65	86	29	26
2006	Geelong	29	21	354	212	142	74	65	35	28
2007	Geelong	29	25	667	358	309	98	86	30	26
2008	Geelong	29	19	543	262	281	91	89	24	23
Career Totals			144	2727	1493	1234	448	521	189	151

Season	Team	No.	Games	Disposals	Kicks	Handballs	Marks	Tackles	Goals	Behinds
2002	Geelong	29	12	8.3	3.1	5.2	3.1	3.6	1.1	0.8
2003	Geelong	29	22	14.9	8.6	6.3	2.8	3.5	1.2	0.9
2004	Geelong	29	21	14.3	8.5	5.9	2.2	4.4	1.7	1.2
2005	Geelong	29	24	18.1	10.7	7.4	2.7	3.6	1.2	1.1
2006	Geelong	29	21	16.9	10.1	6.8	3.5	3.1	1.7	1.3
2007	Geelong	29	25	26.7	14.3	12.4	3.9	3.4	1.2	1.0
2008	Geelong	29	14	28.6	13.8	14.8	4.8	4.7	1.3	1.2
Career Averages				18.9	10.4	8.6	3.1	3.6	1.3	1.0

Honours

Team

AFL Premiership with Geelong: 2007
AFL McClelland Trophy with Geelong: 2007, 2008
AFL NAB Cup with Geelong: 2006
VFL Premiership with Geelong: 2002

Individual

Leigh Matthews Trophy: 2007, 2008
All-Australian: 2007, 2008
Carji Greeves Medal: 2007
Victorian Team representative honours in AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match: 2008
AFLCA Player of the Year Award: 2007, 2008
AFMA Player of the Year Award: 2007
Herald Sun Player of the Year Award: 2007
The Age Player of the Year Award: 2007
Geelong F.C. Leading Goalkicker Award: 2006
Geelong F.C. Best Team & Most Constructive Player Award: 2004
Geelong F.C. Most Improved Player Award: 2003

Personal life

Ablett has been dating RMIT University student Lauren Phillips since 2002.

Off the field, he is a co-owner of the award-winning Coggs Brewing Company. He is the older brother of Nathan Ablett

Footnotes

References

(2007). Geelong - The Greatest Team Of All. Docklands, Victoria: Geoff Slattery Publishing Pty Ltd.
(2007). Year of the Cat - The Inside Story. Geelong, Victoria: The Geelong Advertiser Pty Ltd.
(2008). The Mission - The Inside Story of Geelong's 2007 AFL Premiership. Melbourne, Victoria: Weston Media and Communications.