Geoff Ablett

Geoff Ablett
Personal information
Full name Geoffrey Norman Ablett
Date of birth (1955-03-13) 13 March 1955 (age 69)
Original team(s) Drouin
Height 180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight 80 kg (176 lb)
Position(s) Wing
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1973–1982 Hawthorn 202 (135)
1983–1984 Richmond 016 0(12)
1985 St Kilda 011 00(6)
Total 229 (153)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1985.
Career highlights
  • Hawthorn premiership player (1976, 1978)
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Geoff Ablett (born 13 March 1955) is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1970s and 1980s, and later a local government councillor and Liberal Party candidate for state office, who was found by an anti-corruption investigation to have received hundreds of thousands of dollars from a controversial property developer in exchange for favourable planning decisions.[1]

Football career

Ablett spent the majority of his career with Hawthorn, playing 202 games on the wing. Ablett finished with short stints at Richmond and St Kilda. His younger brother Gary Ablett Sr is a Hall of Fame inductee. A third brother, Kevin, also played for Hawthorn, Richmond and Geelong. Geoff Ablett was known for his burst of speed as player, winning the AFL Grand Final Sprint competition four times.[2]

Politics and anti-corruption investigation

In December 2008 and 2013, Ablett was elected mayor of City of Casey Council, one of Victoria's biggest councils.

Ablett was the unsuccessful Liberal Party candidate for the Electoral district of Cranbourne at both the 2010[3] and 2014 Victorian state election.[4]

Ablett was a councillor at the City of Casey when it was dismissed in 2020.[5] This dismissal of the council followed an investigation by the Victorian Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission into “allegations property developer John Woodman paid City of Casey councillors in exchange for favourable planning votes.” The hearing heard that Ablett “received more than $300,000 from Mr Woodman”, including “$5,000 a month to look after” a racehorse that Mr Woodman was a part owner of. Mr Ablett responded that racehorses “are very expensive to keep.”[6]

In July 2023, Ablett was named as a key figure in IBAC's Operation Sandon report. He was found to have promoted local developer John Woodman's interests on council in exchange for payment, having 'received more than $500,000 in payments and other financial benefits from Mr Woodman between 2010 and 2019.' Mr Woodman also made donations to Ablett's campaigns when he was the Liberal Party candidate for Cranbourne in 2010 and 2014.[7][8]

Personal life

Ablett is the brother of AFL legend Gary Ablett.[9]

His son Ryan, who was once rookie listed at Hawthorn, died in 2009 at the age of 27.[10]

Statistics

[11]
Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
1973 Hawthorn 2 7 0 5 71 8 79 17 — 0.0 0.7 10.1 1.1 11.3 2.4 —
1974 Hawthorn 2 25 20 29 364 81 445 65 — 0.8 1.2 14.6 3.2 17.8 2.6 —
1975 Hawthorn 2 22 14 19 304 43 347 60 — 0.6 0.9 14.5 2.0 16.5 2.9 —
1976 Hawthorn 2 23 11 22 365 55 420 58 — 0.5 1.0 15.9 2.4 18.3 2.5 —
1977 Hawthorn 2 24 8 15 395 78 473 75 — 0.3 0.7 16.5 3.3 19.7 3.1 —
1978 Hawthorn 2 25 15 21 354 91 445 62 — 0.6 0.8 14.2 3.6 17.8 2.5 —
1979 Hawthorn 2 16 11 24 231 67 298 46 — 0.7 1.5 14.4 4.2 18.6 2.9 —
1980 Hawthorn 2 19 16 23 274 96 370 66 — 0.8 1.2 14.4 5.1 19.5 3.5 —
1981 Hawthorn 2 17 19 23 273 62 335 43 — 1.1 1.4 16.1 3.6 19.7 2.5 —
1982 Hawthorn 2 24 21 26 360 131 491 89 — 0.9 1.1 15.0 5.5 20.5 3.7 —
1983 Richmond 4 5 8 8 70 21 91 15 — 1.6 1.6 14.0 4.2 18.2 3.0 —
1984 Richmond 4 11 4 9 146 25 171 31 — 0.4 0.8 13.3 2.3 15.5 2.8 —
1985 St Kilda 15 11 6 10 187 31 218 38 — 0.5 0.9 17.0 2.8 19.8 3.5 —
Career 229 153 234 3394 789 4183 665 — 0.7 1.0 14.9 3.5 18.3 2.9 —

Notes

  1. ^ "Victorian MPs and two councillors accepted money and donations to further developer's goals, Ibac finds". the Guardian. 26 July 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  2. ^ "Grand Final Sprint - Winners, Entrants, History - HARD BALL GET". Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  3. ^ "Cranbourne - 2010 Victorian Election - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
  4. ^ "Cranbourne - Victorian Election 2014 - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)".
  5. ^ "Casey council sacked for four years as watchdog finds bullying, 'unacceptable behaviour'". 18 February 2020.
  6. ^ "Developer at centre of corruption inquiry paid councillor $5k a month to look after horse that didn't race". ABC News. 28 November 2019.
  7. ^ "download". www.ibac.vic.gov.au.
  8. ^ "IBAC Operation Sandon report news LIVE: Corruption watchdog tables report into allegations of corruption at City of Casey". The Age. 27 July 2023. Archived from the original on 27 July 2023.
  9. ^ "The Abletts - a hierarchy of football's greatest family". www.sportingnews.com. 29 June 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  10. ^ Ablett family hit by tragedy
  11. ^ Geoff Ablett's player profile at AFL Tables