Gary Ablett, Sr.

Legacy

“

Watching Ablett made me feel vulnerable, as though he was complete and the rest of us had something missing.

”

“	Gary was a fantastic player and is widely recognised as one of the greatest players the game has seen...the greatest player we have had wear the navy and white hoops.	”
—Frank Costa, Geelong's present president.

“	For 12 years he displayed his awesome ability, there was no skill he did not possess...football followers travelled many kilometres to see him play and they were never disappointed...he has left a legacy wherein Gary Ablett is one of the greatest players to have played the game.	”
—extract from Hall of Fame biography

Ablett displayed his renowned skillset right from his entrance into the league, combining strength, speed, and skill to produce some of the most spectacular individual games in the history of the VFL/AFL. Noted for his spectacular leap, a trait attributed to his unusual abundance of fast-twitch muscle fibres, and goal kicking ability, Ablett is acknowledged for popularising the 'speccy'.

A noted big game player, Ablett kicked 43 goals in 11 State appearances – an average of nearly 4 goals a game. Perhaps more significantly, he booted 64 goals over the course of his 16 finals – an average of four goals a game.

His haul of 27 goals in the 1989 finals series is a record that still stands; he kicked 3 goals vs. Essendon, 7 vs. Melbourne, 8 vs. Essendon in Geelong's winning rematch, and 9 in the losing Grand Final against Hawthorn. His performance in the 1989 Grand Final, where he was rewarded the Norm Smith Medal for best player afield, is considered one of the greatest individual performances in the history of the game. In winning the medal, he became one of only four players (and only the second at the time) the others being Maurice Rioli −1982, Nathan Buckley −2002, and Chris Judd −2005) to win the medal playing for the losing side. In 1993, Ablett became the 2nd fastest player to kick 100 goals, doing so in 14 games, with only the legendary Bob Pratt bettering it in 13 games. In 1996, Ablett joined Gordon Coventry, Doug Wade, Jason Dunstall and Tony Lockett as the only players in league history to kick 1000 VFL/AFL goals.

In 1996, Ablett was named in the AFL Team of the Century on the interchange bench, alongside Jack Dyer and Greg Williams. In 2001, Ablett was named in the Geelong Team of the Century, on a half forward flank. In 2005, after many years of controversy and debate (see below), Ablett was inducted into the Australian Football League Hall of Fame. The following year, he was honoured yet again when he was voted as the Greatest Geelong player of all-time ahead of Graham Farmer.

In 2006, Ablett was honoured with the naming of a terrace in his name within the newly renovated Skilled Stadium. Ablett once had a set of gates named in his honour, but he was upgraded to a terrace at the beginning of the 2006 AFL season.

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