Below is an extract from Gary Ablett: An Autobiography, as his former coach Mark Thompson pays tribute.

When I’m asked to consider the better player of the two Gary Abletts, all I can do is marvel at the thought that two of the five best players that I have ever seen play the game come from the same family. It’s a remarkable achievement by Gazza Snr and Gary’s mum to have produced young Gary and Nathan, two quality players. The best thing about it was that I was a beneficiary, having the pleasure of coaching both of them to Premiership success. You didn’t have to teach young Gazza or Nathan anything about footy – it was more about them getting fit, getting their recovery right, plus developing their strength and ability to cope with the game. It certainly wasn’t about the footy, because they both had this instinctive genius that was passed down from their dad. It was just all the other little things we had to manoeuvre and mould, shape and nurture to get them to the top.

Gary Snr and Gary Jnr were completely different styles of player. Gaz Snr could probably win as many ground balls as Jnr, but he didn’t have to and preferred to be the one taking the big marks. Not that Gary Jnr was that much smaller than his dad, they just played different positions. We had a lot more tall boys in our team and Jnr had this miraculous ability to know where the ball was going. Gazza already had everything that we normally have to teach most young players. Elements of the game like how to turn your body to protect yourself so you can win the ball without being hurt, and not going in headfirst and risking injury. Gaz also had incredibly soft feet, an ability to kick on both sides of his body, plus amazing balance. I remember we used to go crook at Gaz when he would occasionally get around training wearing runners when it was raining or about to rain. I’d say, ‘Go and put some boots on,’ and he’d say, ‘Nah, it’ll be right. If I slip over I’ll put boots on then.’ The thing is he wouldn’t slip over, even if it rained all night. His core strength must be amazing.

Right from the outset, even before Geelong drafted Gary, I loved his ability to win and use the ball, and the way that he brought other people into the game. They talked about his fitness in the early days and, although I initially had no idea about his fitness, it turned out to be better than I thought. I recall seeing him play one day at Windy Hill in a Victorian Country trial match while he was still a part of the Geelong Falcons. Geelong recruiter Stephen Wells had said to me, ‘What are you doing this afternoon? Come up and watch Gaz play.’ We were sitting there watching and in the first minute of the game he did a couple of brilliant things and I said, ‘I’ve seen enough, Stevie. You can draft him.’ Stevie Johnson was also playing that day and between them they put on a circus. It was pretty much the sealer for me. If the recruitment guys push them up and you see them do things like they did that day, it was a case of: ‘No problems. Take them.’

Gary’s transition to become an AFL footballer was a delicate one. I remember him being very shy, both with the media and public, so there was definitely a plan in place from the outset. We let him make his progress through simple media engagements – ones where he was a little bit protected. From there he developed enough confidence to go out and fulfil the main media requirements himself. That was his off-field side. He was always going to be private. We never included his dad much, we just let Gaz be, and let him do whatever he wanted to do, as much as we could. There was a bit of a push to get him because he was Gary Ablett – we knew he was going to be a star. As a consequence, there was always going to be a need for him to do something special. To Gary’s credit, he did it in his own time and in his own way, and in time he became a seasoned campaigner. Gary talks well, he’s confident and he’s happy to talk to the media now. He has developed into a champion – not just a champion player but a champion person, as well.

Gary has emerged as a fabulous role model for any footballer who wants to play the game. Others can benefit so much by observing how he plays. He gets his hard balls, he gets his loose balls and he kicks goals. He’s a terrific user of the ball and he always looks to bring his teammates into the play. He’s pretty much the best player I’ve ever seen, I reckon. As I said, there are a lot of comparisons made between Gary and his dad. But you think about the people he’s played against, and the fact that he’s won two Brownlows and the Leigh Matthews Award five times. It’s just a remarkable career.

Despite starting out as a small forward, it was only a matter of time before Gary made his move to the midfield. I loved him in the forward line because he created so many opportunities. If you were an opposition player playing on Gazza, Paul Chapman or Stevie Johnson in the forward line, you knew you had a big task on your hands. We had a whole array of people who could find the ball in the forward line and kick goals for us, and that’s ultimately what wins you games. I was happy to play Gary there, but I knew that at some stage he was going to put pressure on us as a match committee to play him up the field. When he did that, he took his game to another level and was still able to kick plenty of goals from there.

I think a lot of us felt the pressure when the Leading Teams organisation came in at the start of the 2007 season. I was new to it all until Gerard Murphy from Leading Teams came in and outlined his plans. He made it clear that he wanted to attack the influencers of the club and I, along with Gary, was considered one of them. I think I was the first to be assessed and I found it quite intimidating, sitting in front of the whole team and having them give feedback to me in a very direct manner. Then it was time for Gazza, Cam Mooney and Matthew Scarlett. We were all in the first crew. The problem is, you sort of know what’s coming and sometimes it’s hard to hear. But out of it all, I know I improved and I know Gazza certainly did as well. It was a great thing to do, but at the time it was a bit of a worry. I think Gary initially found it quite upsetting. We all did. But you live in this team environment and ultimately you don’t want to let the team down, so we needed to take it on the chin and move on. Gary certainly did, using that feedback to take his game to another level.

One of the things that came out of the Leading Teams exercise related to commitment to training, although I think Gary helped me to view our approach to training quite differently to the way I previously had. I believe that if you’re not injured, you should train. I recall, on occasions, Gary would say he just wasn’t right and then he wouldn’t train. But maybe he got it right and we got it wrong. Maybe if people train when they’re sore, which some people do, it doesn’t do them any good and sets them back. Some people just have a different pain tolerance. Matthew Scarlett would train fully every session and say, ‘It’ll help me play better,’ whereas Gary would say, ‘Nah, my body’s got to feel right to play.’ I’m sure Scarlett trained sore sometimes, and Gary trained sometimes when he was a little bit sore, but I think the tolerance to training was initially lower with Gaz. But that’s a personal thing and Gary had to feel right to play. Who can question that? I can’t. Maybe this theory of ‘Everyone’s got to train’ isn’t helpful. Gary made me question my attitude to the situation. The thing was, he could still play well without training as hard or as often as others. I’m not saying he was lazy, but I think he structured his preparation to get his body in pristine condition in time to play, whereas others just trudged on. I can’t question his motives at all, because by the time game day came, he was ready to play and he played nearly every week, at an exceptionally high standard, for many seasons.

The development in Gary’s game was particularly evident from the 2007 season onward. It was superstar stuff. Sometimes I’d sit up in the box and marvel at what he could do. I probably shouldn’t have done it, but at times you just couldn’t help but be enthralled by it all: he was doing things that other players couldn’t do. What Gazza was capable of set a new benchmark for the way the game should be played. I had this bit of footage that I used to show at most of the presentations I’d do on professional development to help players, at all levels, understand what they should be doing around the ball. It was everything that I believed in. The footage shows Gary in the play and then he gets himself out of the play. When the ball leaves his area and he’s not a chance to win it, he still goes back for more, putting himself back in and out of the play about six times. He eventually picks the ball up and handballs it to somebody and they kick a goal. It was the most amazing bit of play I’ve seen. I’ve never seen a player be so busy around the ball and make that many good decisions. Not everyone around the ball gets the ball and not everyone gets to help in defence, laying a tackle or smothering the ball, but for his whole career, when he was around the ball, he just knew what to do to get it. You can teach it, but you can’t teach it to that level. I wish you could teach that to all players because the game would be an absolutely outstanding spectacle to watch if you could.

That was the thing about Gary – he was always quite happy to give the ball away. I couldn’t say the same about some other players, but Gazza was always one to bring other people into the action. If someone was in a better position to kick a goal, there would be no doubt in his head, he’d just take that option every time. He was selfless.

I think the Geelong Football Club was a great fit for Gary because there was a danger that at any other club he might have been overexposed. There was a possibility that the club wouldn’t have got the best out of him, but I think the way we nurtured him and brought him on as a player was critical to his development. We treated Gary with a high level of care and a sympathetic view in regards to the pressures he faced every day of his life. Sometimes we just wouldn’t talk about football. We’d talk about other things and in the end, I’m sure he appreciated the club for what we did for him. I’m certain of that because we helped him have a great career and a good life, and he’s paid us back in spades. In fact, Gary has paid the game back in spades because there hasn’t been a footballer quite like him. I think players like Gary Snr and Wayne Carey get all the accolades because they can take the big mark, but Gazza’s the ground ball genius. He’s like Kevin Bartlett, and from what I hear of amazing players from the past like Bobby Skilton or Darrel Baldock. I think Gary’s clearly the best.

There’s no doubt the media amped up the supposedly fractured relationship between Gary and me during 2010 and his contract negotiations with Gold Coast Suns. They milked it for everything they could. I think everybody, myself included, knew where the game was going. The AFL had two clubs coming into the competition and they wanted some stars. We knew what the offer was from the Suns. I think anybody in their right mind would have taken the offer. As sad as it was, I thought Gary would take it. That sort of opportunity only comes around once in a lifetime and I don’t think anybody would’ve been offered that since, apart from Buddy Franklin. On reflection, it just upset me, not that Gary went, but that the game was in a position that someone could be offered that sort of contract. My dream would’ve been for Gary to be a one club player and to be an absolute superstar at Geelong. He would’ve won a couple more Best and Fairest awards at the club and no doubt it would’ve been good for Geelong. It’s his home, his dad played there and his brother played there and won a Premiership with him. But I totally understand it.

To his credit, I reckon Gazza played even better football at Gold Coast in his first couple of years before he got injured. I think at Geelong we had a lot of players on the ball and if he wasn’t needed on the ball, he could wait outside. He got a decent amount of good-quality ball in space on the outside at Geelong, but that wasn’t the case at Gold Coast. The ball wasn’t coming out to him, so he had to learn, even more than he did at Geelong, how to go back and win his own ball. That’s when I’ve gone, ‘Wow, look at this kid go!’ They weren’t the best team at the Gold Coast, so to win a Brownlow up there and to win Best and Fairest awards, and carry that club in its early years was extraordinary. He played some remarkable football and should be applauded for that. Not many people could have done as well as he did.

That’s why it was ridiculous that Gary was being accused of selfishly chasing possessions in his time at Gold Coast. When he was at Geelong, opposition teams were forced to worry about a lot of players and Gazza was just one of them. Sometimes he wouldn’t get a tagger and they’d tag Paul Chapman or Stevie Johnson, or whoever else was playing well at the time. Up at the Gold Coast there was someone onto him every week. They eventually found a way to get under his skin by talking to him and knocking him around a bit off the ball. So, I think he had every right to do what he did. He had to go and chase the ball because there were no other opportunities coming to him easily.

I’ve got to admit that I loved it when I heard that Gary was returning to Geelong. I was so thrilled, not because I wanted to take him away from the Gold Coast, but because Geelong is his home. He’s a Geelong boy and he was always going to settle in Geelong. Gary has a fantastic history there with his family, so I’m rapt that he’s returned. I was hoping he’d get to play 400 games but with the injuries he sustained while he was at the Suns, it doesn’t look like he will. I still watch Gary play and see things that show he’s still got it. I’ve always said that he could probably keep playing longer. He squeezes as much out of himself as he possibly can. If you’ve had more Brownlow votes than anyone who has ever played the game, you’re a superstar. That’s Gary Ablett – a superstar.