page_title: Gary Ablett Jr.
section_title: 2011–2015: Second Brownlow Medal and injury struggles
hierarchical_section_title: Gary Ablett Jr. / AFL career / Gold Coast (2011–2017) / 2011–2015: Second Brownlow Medal and injury struggles
caption_attribution_description: English: 2012 Round 7. GWS Giants vs Gold Coast Suns. Manuka Oval.
context_page_description: Gary Ablett Jr. is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League. He previously played for the Gold Coast Suns from 2011 to 2017. The eldest son of Australian Football Hall of Fame member and former Hawthorn and Geelong player Gary Ablett Sr., Ablett was drafted to Geelong under the father–son rule in the 2001 national draft and has since become recognised as one of the all-time great midfielders. Ablett is a dual premiership player, dual Brownlow Medallist, five-time Leigh Matthews Trophy winner, three-time AFLCA Champion Player of the Year Award winner and eight-time All-Australian.
  During his first stint at Geelong, Ablett won two premierships, two Carji Greeves Medals, a Geelong leading goalkicker award and the 2009 Brownlow Medal. He is also a life member of the club and has been inducted into the club's Hall of Fame. At Gold Coast, Ablett was the club's inaugural captain, holding the role for the club's first six seasons, and won four Gold Coast Suns Club Champion awards, two Gold Coast leading goalkicker awards and the 2013 Brownlow Medal, the first Brownlow Medal in the club's history.
context_section_description: On 29 September 2010, Ablett signed a five-year contract valued at $9 million with the Gold Coast Football Club, a side entering the AFL for the first time in 2011. On 19 January 2011, after much speculation, Ablett was named the inaugural captain of the Suns. In the club's inaugural season, Gold Coast finished last on the ladder with a 3–19 win-loss record, meaning that Ablett missed out on playing in a final for the first time in five years; he still had a great individual season, finishing with career-highs in tackles (119) and clearances (133) and being named captain in the 2011 All-Australian team. In 2012, Ablett continued his individual success, winning his fourth Leigh Matthews Trophy and finishing the season with a career-high in kicks (389). In 2013, Ablett had a tremendous season, leading the league in average disposals (31.2) and taking home his second consecutive (and fifth overall) Leigh Matthews Trophy. He also won his second Brownlow Medal, becoming the first Gold Coast player to win the award and the 14th player in VFL/AFL history to win it twice. Ablett became the fifth player to win Brownlow Medals at different clubs, joining Ian Stewart, Peter Moore, Greg Williams and Chris Judd. Ablett had a career-best season in 2014, averaging 32 possessions and kicking 24 goals before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in the Sun's win against Collingwood in round 16. Despite playing only 15 games, he finished equal-third in the Brownlow Medal with 22 votes.
  Ablett's shoulder injury affected his 2015 preseason, but he took the field in the Suns' opening game against Melbourne. He scored two goals and had 19 disposals in the loss, then had 23 disposals and kicked one goal in the round 2 loss to St Kilda, but laid only one tackle across the two games. The shoulder was still causing problems, and the Suns' medical staff sidelined him indefinitely before the round 3 clash with Geelong. Dr Peter Larkins stated four weeks later that the status of Ablett's injury meant that he could "miss the majority of the season". By the end of May, Ablett began to draw criticism from media personalities such as Garry Lyon and Jonathan Brown for his supposed lack of leadership in the struggling Suns side. On top of their numerous losses, some Suns players were displaying poor discipline and Lyon considered Ablett was not doing enough to prevent off-field indiscretions. When he refused to discuss the issues with Lyon on Triple M, Lyon described Ablett as "immature". The following Monday on Fox Footy's On The Couch program, Jonathan Brown lashed Ablett for not taking the field, claiming he was cleared to play by Suns medicos and he should "play through the pain". Ablett addressed these criticisms with a press conference on June 3 saying it was not just an issue of pain and to return early would be "selfish". On AFL 360, Ablett's former coach Mark Thompson defended his decision not to play, stating that Ablett's high standards meant that he would not want to take the field if he could not give 100% effort. Ablett eventually returned for the round 14 game against North Melbourne; although starting quietly, he was instrumental in the win, gaining 31 disposals and kicking three goals. He continued to perform well in the next two games, racking up 30 disposals in each and kicking four goals, however he was struck down with a season-ending injury in round 17, suffering a medial ligament tear to the left knee in the first quarter of the Suns' loss to Adelaide. The recovery time required meant that he did not play again in the 2015 season.
caption: Ablett (left) playing for Gold Coast in 2012
exif: {}