Brownlow not the most important: Ablett - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Brownlow not the most important: Ablett

By Roger Vaughan 22/09/2009 03:13:18 PM Comments (0)

Gary Ablett's teammates have urged him to forget about his Brownlow Medal win as quickly as possible and focus completely on Saturday's AFL grand final against St Kilda.

In case there was any doubt, the Geelong midfielder was reminded of his task ahead in several messages from teammate Jimmy Bartel.

Bartel won the Brownlow in 2007 and was also a member of the Cats' premiership team that year.

"He sent me a text last night and this morning just telling me to enjoy it and in a way try to get it out of your head as quick as possible," Ablett said.

"They said `we need you for the weekend'.

"He said `think about it a bit more at the end of the season but try to concentrate on the game as much as you can this week' - and that's what I'll definitely be doing.

"I don't think it will be too hard for me. I'll enjoy it today, I'll spend the day up here (in Melbourne) and then I'll get back to Geelong.

"We've got our main training session tomorrow night so I'll put the medal away in the cupboard and concentrate on Saturday."

While it is the highest individual achievement in the AFL, Ablett will slot the medal in behind two of his other career highlights.

He said the 2007 flag and his first game as an AFL player are probably ahead of winning the Brownlow in his mind.

And he maintained he would hand the medal back if it meant Geelong could collect the AFL premiership on Saturday.

Ablett, who was highly-fancied going into Monday night's count, was a runaway winner with 30 votes from Carlton captain Chris Judd (22) and St Kilda midfielder Lenny Hayes (20).

But Ablett, who has been controversially overlooked for the best and fairest award the past two years, admitted winning this year was something of a relief and eased the pressure.

"It does in a way, definitely," he said. "The media have kind of built it up over the last few years, (I've) kind of been the favourite going in three years in a row and it is kind of a relief."

Ablett also said he had spoken to his father Gary since winning the medal and listened to his advice.

"He just said congratulations and that it's a fantastic effort (but) just remember it's a game and there's a lot more to life than football and just enjoy it," Ablett said.

The Brownlow is one award his famous father was never able to snare, despite his heroics for Geelong.

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