Nathan Ablett is looking to reignite his AFL career by lining up for VFL club Werribee.
By Liam Twomey
HE’S been a favourite son at Geelong, a favourite brother at the Gold Coast and now Nathan Ablett will be looking to put his own stamp on his career at the Werribee Football Club.
The Tigers broke the news last week that Ablett would join the club after the two parties began talks before Christmas.
Werribee CEO Mark Penaluna was pleased in Ablett’s decision and said the 26-year-old would fit into the club nicely.
“We are absolutely delighted to get a guy who has played in an AFL premiership before the age of 25 and is fit and wants to do everything he can to get back into an AFL system,” Penaluna said.
“We just want him to come here, enjoy his football, take every opportunity to get himself fit and play within a team structure and we have no doubt he will do all of those things.”
Ablett began his career with Geelong in 2005 where he played for four years, kicking 46 goals.
He was part of the club’s 2007 premiership win, kicking three goals in the grand final against Port Adelaide. After retiring at the end of the 2008 season, Ablett joined the Gold Coast, playing alongside his brother Gary, for its inaugural season in the AFL.
However, injuries limited his num-
ber of senior games to just two and he was delisted at the end of the 2011 season.
Werribee plans to use Ablett in a variety of attacking roles and see him as a versatile goal scoring option. “He is not going to be a one positional type player. We can play him across half forward or deep forward. He will be going full throttle,” Penaluna said.
Ablett is part of a number of off-season changes at the Tigers who welcomed new head coach Scott West into the fold.
Penaluna said the environment and structures Werribee offer were key reasons the club had recruited well. “We were crying out for a guy of his experience to play as a deep forward. To have someone who can take a mark is what we were looking for,” he said. “Having Scott West as a senior coach and having assistant coaches, a welfare manager, a ruck coach and a nutritionist and all the other services really gives him that opportunity to be the best possible footballer he can and get into the AFL system.”
