AFL DIARY

The greatest game in the world returns this weekend for Season 2011, and too much football will never be enough. Season 2010 will be remembered for the most controversial defection since Anakin Skywalker went over to the Dark Side, as Gary Ablett Junior abandoned Geelong to play for the new Gold Coast team. But if you thought Skywalker Senior’s defection had some far-reaching consequences for an entire galaxy, it was nothing compared with the impact of Ablett Junior’s defection on the Geelong universe. For 22 of the past 27 years, Geelong has had a genius named Gary Ablett performing miracles on a regular basis and arousing the passions of fans like no other player in the game. When people think ‘Geelong’ they immediately think the words ‘Gary Ablett’ and vice versa. Two generations of Gary Abletts were the heart, soul and hope of an entire city.

• 26 March 2011, 12:00am