Gold Coast Suns skipper Gary Ablett says he rushed back from shoulder surgery, but won’t be making the same mistake following his latest setback.
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Ablett today announced a new three year deal with the Suns that will take him to at least the end of the 2018 season, but he won’t feature this weekend after re-injuring his shoulder during the opening two rounds against Melbourne and St Kilda.
The 30-year-old refused to put a timeframe on his return, but says he will be raring to go when the time comes.
“I don’t feel like it’s a long way off,” Ablett told AFL.com.au.
“The doctors and physios will come up with a plan and make sure this time … it will be right and I’ll be ready to go.
“The body feels good. It’s just the shoulder that’s restricted me from doing things that I’ve been able to do in previous years. I believe I can (get back to my best).”
Ablett admits he may have been a tad too eager to return and says he was playing at around “70 per cent” at the start of 2015.
“I probably rushed back a little early,” Ablett said.
“The last training session before round one where I had to prove myself, I did contact work and it felt good enough, so I put my hand up to play.
“Over those two weeks, it probably went backwards, lost a bit of range and it got a little stirred up.
“I just don’t think anyone wants to be running around at 70 per cent, that was the case.
“I probably didn’t know that until I got out there and there was certain movements I was really struggling with.”
Gold Coast have endured a poor start to the season, losing all three of its opening games.
The Suns showed a big improvement in their hard-fought loss to Geelong on Sunday, and have a chance to get its season back on track when they face fellow expansion club GWS Giants in round four.
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