GARY Ablett has confirmed he will spend more time forward in 2019 but says he’s given little thought to whether this year will be his last in the AFL.
Turning 35 in May, Ablett is aware he is nearing the end of a glittering career that has reaped two premierships and two Brownlow Medals from 321 games.
“I know it is going to end at some stage, but my focus is just having the best pre-season I possibly can and doing everything I need to do to give myself the best opportunity of playing all 22 games and, hopefully, finals footy.
“It doesn’t get easier as you get older; you kind of adapt and you start to figure out ways that you can potentially do things better.
“I’m going to move I could when I was 23, but I can still improve in areas of my game.
“For me, a big focus has been my contested work inside forward 50 and those one-on-one contests.
“Spending a lot of time down forward, I want to make sure I’m winning them and giving our team the best opportunity of scoring.”
CATS: RUNNING A SILVER LINING FOR JED
Ablett, who has kicked 402 goals, including 16 in 2018, says he’s looking forward to spending more time in the attacking half of the ground.
“I sat down with ‘Scotty’ (coach Chris Scott) in the off-season and we just spoke through where he thought – and I thought – I was the best fit for the team and how I can help the team win games,” Ablett said.
“We decided that was going to be down forward.”
Click below to listen to the full interview with Gary Ablett
Twitter: @tom_king79
