by Nicholas Duck 
The prodigal son returns.  
Former AFL superstar Gary Ablett Jr will play a one-off game for Drouin Football Club next month, bringing his famous family’s legacy in the town full circle.   
Ablett will feature as a part of the club’s ‘Indigenous Day with guest player Gary Ablett Jr’ in the Hawks’ July 15 home match against Morwell, as the club pays tribute to indigenous culture with a specially designed guernsey and other activities.   
Ablett played 357 AFL games for both Geelong and Gold Coast, winning two premierships, two Brownlow Medals and numerous other accolades in that time.   
He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players in the history of the sport.   
The Ablett family has been linked to the Drouin Football Club for decades, with Ablett’s father Gary Ablett Sr - also considered a great of the game - famously beginning his esteemed career in the maroon and gold and even winning a premiership with them in 1978. Many other Abletts have also passed through the Hawks Nest, giving Ablett’s one-off appearance for the club all the more meaning.  
Drouin president Chris Soumilas said the recruitment of Ablett had largely come thanks to the efforts of senior coach Brent Clinnick, who first contacted the superstar’s management.   
While Ablett’s commitments to Creswick Football Club, who he played for over the weekend, looked to have scuppered any chance of him coming to Drouin this year, Soumilas said Ablett’s personal interest in playing a game for his father’s old club had made it happen.   
“It all happened pretty quickly, it was like going fishing and coming back with a shark,” he said.   
Soumilas said having Ablett on board for the club’s indigenous day was going to bring “a lot more attention to a great day.”  
“It’s not just going to be an event for our club, it’s for the town and Baw Baw Shire.”  
Following the match, the club will be hosting a function that evening in town, with Ablett featuring to help auction off pieces of memorabilia for the charity Compassion Australia.  
The club will now go about preparing for the big day, with Soumilas saying the club was conservatively estimating at least 3000 to 4000 attending.   
“We hoping to do online ticketing, and people can catch the train in to see Gary play,” he said.   
“Obviously we’re hoping to get a bit out of it, but it’s just going to be great to see one of the greatest players to ever play, especially given his dad was a premiership player for Drouin.”