Gold Coast SUNS coach Rodney Eade is confident captain Gary Ablett will make his long-awaited return from a shoulder injury against Carlton, although he wouldn’t go as far as naming the dual Brownlow medallist a certain starter.
The state of Ablett’s shoulder has dominated discussion for the best part of a year, ever since the champion midfielder suffered the heavily scrutinised dislocation against Collingwood in round 16, 2014.
After making a brief return in the opening two games of this season, Ablett has since spent the last ten weeks on the sidelines in an attempt to get his shoulder back to a state that will allow him to do what he does best.
With Gold Coast coming off a strong performance against Fremantle prior to the bye, the SUNS are hoping Ablett will return to bolster an injury ravaged midfield. But Eade ruled out any chance of playing mind games with Carlton in regards to Ablett’s availability, explaining that if the eight-time All Australian wasn’t fit to play, he wouldn’t be making the trip south.
“We won’t be playing any games. If he says he’s not right, well, we won’t pick him. If there’s a good chance he’s going to play we will name him,” Eade told the media at a press conference at Metricon Stadium on Wednesday morning.
“He’s certainly progressed well so far. Having a main session today, so he’ll do a bit more contesting work, we’ll see how he’ll pull up after that.
“We probably won’t know until tomorrow, we will more than likely name him, then we’ll see how he goes and see how he feels.”
VIDEO: Watch Rodney Eade's full press conference from Wednesday morning.
From a structural perspective, Ablett’s right shoulder joint is sound, his range of movement has returned to a satisfactory level. It is simply a matter of confidence, something that takes time after such a serious, long-term injury.
“Structurally it’s fine and he’s got full range now. It’s just his confidence with that and being able to do enough work with it. We’ll see how he pulls up after today,” Eade said.
“(The decision) it’s in conjunction with the medical department, so they’ve both got to tick it off. It’s certainly heading that way.”
Ablett has gradually ramped up his exposure to contested work in the last few weeks with the notch reaching another level since the club returned to training following the bye.
Eade revealed that Ablett has worked closely with defensive coach Dean Solomon on coping with different situations he will be faced with in games, such as tackling, fending off tackles and tight, in close work around stoppages.
“He has done controlled contesting work for the previous two weeks. This last week it’s been more after training, he’s joined in all the contesting work that we do at training and then he’s done some more after,” Eade said.
“(He’s done) some tackling with Dean Solomon, some contesting work – put him on the ground, push out of situations.”
