By Niall Seewang
Gold Coast SUNS captain Gary Ablett has received another honour to go with his long list achievements, being named the greatest current AFL player by Australia Post.
A panel of experts gave Ablett the nod ahead of fellow AFL stars such as Adam Goodes and Chris Judd.
As such, the star midfielder will appear on a stamp released for Australia Day, alongside fellow sporting champions Mark Schwarzer, Billy Slater and David Pocock.
All-time legends Ron Barassi, Joe Marston, John Raper and David Campese will also be immortalised on the 2012 Australia Post Australian Legends stamp issue, which recognises Australia's four dominant football codes - Australian rules, football, rugby union and rugby league.
15 years ago, Sir Donald Bradman was the first living Australian to be honoured on an Australian stamp. Prior to that, the only living people honoured on our nation's stamps were members of the royal family.
Ablett said he planned to frame his stamp and hang it on the wall.
"Donald Bradman would be the greatest Australian sportsman of all time ... so to be on a stamp alongside him is definitely a great honour and I might even put one of his stamps up (on the wall) and whack one of mine alongside it," he said.
Australia Post said the identities of the eight champions - one all-time legend and one current player from each code - had remained a secret until Friday, when the stamps went on sale.
To select the eight recipients, Australia Post established an expert judging panel for each of the four codes - comprising a journalist, a broadcaster and a former champion player.
Former Herald Sun football writer Mike Sheahan was one of the experts asked to narrow down the best from the AFL.
"Gary Ablett beat a strong field for the title of current legend," Sheahan told the Herald Sun.
"It could easily have been Chris Judd or Adam Goodes, given their contributions, yet the panel settled on Ablett.
"It's fair to say his heritage may have helped, too. He came into the game as the son and namesake of possibly the most gifted player in the history of the game and has gone on to match and then exceed his famous father's achievements, in a totally different style."
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs
