Gary Ablett could improve without the Gold Coast Suns captaincy.

And Eade has reaffirmed his belief that Ablett could finish his esteemed career as a Gold Coast player, despite the possibility of returning home to Geelong at year’s end.

Ablett enters the 2017 season without the Suns captaincy burden for the first time since he joined the club, with key-position duo Tom Lynch and Steven May given the responsibility late last year.

It has been a frustrating past three seasons for the dual Brownlow Medallist, with shoulder and knee injuries restricting him to just 35 of a possible 66 games.

However the decision to hand the captaincy to Lynch and May will help 32-year-old Ablett focus primarily on his fitness and form this season.

Asked by Fox Sports News’ Jake Niall on AFL Tonight whether Ablett would be a better player in 2017 without the captaincy, Eade said: “I think yes.

“I don’t know what the percentage of that, but I think the bigger percentage will be him having a good pre-season, getting his body right — he’s had operations for last two years, which have curtailed his seasons.

“He’s a competitive player, so he’s got that drive to have a really good year to take himself back to the top echelon of players in the competition. Not having the captaincy will aid that by 10 per cent.

Gold Coast’s Gary Ablett will be right for Round 1.Source:Getty Images

“I think for Gary to forego those (captaincy commitments) will be a plus for his football.”

Both the Suns and Cats confirmed late last year that Ablett, who’s contracted to the Suns until the end of 2018, had inquired about a trade back to Geelong during the most recent exchange period — a request that was predictably denied by the Suns after losing Jaeger O’Meara to Hawthorn and Dion Prestia to Richmond.

There’s speculation Ablett could replicate his request after the end of the 2017 season, but Eade believes his superstar could still finish his career with the Suns.

“I think he will, but I’m not unequivocal ether way,” Eade said.

“From our point of view, he’s got a year to go. We would love him to stay, we want him to stay, more than likely we think he’ll want to stay.
“At the end of the day, it’s our call probably, because he’s under contract and we want him to stay.”

Eade said Ablett would be right for Round 1 and that he’d been “in a really good spot” over the summer.

“He’s had a bounce in his step and a smile on his face from day one,” Eade said.

LIVE stream every game of every round of the 2017 Toyota AFL Premiership Season on FOX SPORTS. Get your free 2-week FOXTEL PLAY trial and start watching in minutes. SIGN UP NOW >>

Eade also backed co-captain May, who is out of contract at season’s end, to re-sign with the club soon.

”It’s not a concern, just a matter of time.

“He’s had a few things going on football wise, life wise, his manager has been here, there and everywhere overseas, so it’s not far away.”

HOW LONG UNTIL A FLAG PUSH

THE Suns’ highest ladder finish in five seasons has been 12th, which came in 2014.

But Eade believes his side has the ability to push into premiership contention within “two to three years”.

“You don’t like to put a timeline on it ... I was going to answer that you need to be thereabouts and then you can challenge, but that’s probably been disproven by the Bulldogs,” Eade said.

“I think the evenness of the competition give teams a greater chance to compete earlier.”

However Eade, for the moment, is looking short-term.

And while he ideally wants his side to become “more competitive” and minimise the big losses — Gold Coast had average losing margins of 45 and 44 points in its past two seasons — in 2017, reaching finals for the first time is clearly on Eade’s agenda.

Gold Coast Suns coach Rodney Eade with co-captains Tom Lynch and Steven May. Picture: Regi VargheseSource:News Corp Australia

“We want to be pushing for the eight, but it’s going to be tough around that mark — there’s probably 14 teams saying the same thing,” he said.

What could also help boost the Suns’ finals hopes is having access to the new training facilities they moved into during early February.

Eade has seen Sydney, Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs move into new facilities during his respective stints at all three clubs, but believes the Suns are already reaping the benefits of the home base shift.

“This will have more of an affect than those other clubs because of where they’ve come from to where they go to,” Eade said.

“They were poor and archaic the facilities the Suns had up until February. You already notice the players since they moved in, the smiles on their faces, more players stay longer, more players come in after hours and on weekends and during their time off.

“You think it’d aid rehab, recovery and performance and, possibly down the track, aid player retention as well as attracting players.”

Eade added that a healthier playing list and some crucial inclusions via trades, free agency and the draft would also assist his club’s push for a maiden finals berth.

THE ROUND 1 SUNS BOLTERS

FIVE of those off-season inclusions came via last year’s national draft, with the Suns having four picks inside the top 10.

With those selections they acquired gun small forward Ben Ainsworth, talented utility Jack Scrimshaw, inside ball-winner Will Brodie and smooth-moving Academy prospect Jack Bowes.

Eade revealed that two of the top draftees were in contention to make their AFL debuts against the Brisbane Lions in Round 1.

Rodney Eade’s Gold Coast Suns took Jack Bowes with Pick 10. Picture: Jonathan NgSource:News Corp Australia

“We might play one or two from Round 1. We’re really pleased with where they’re at, the four kids we’ve got are terrific,” Eade said.

“Jack Bowes and Ben Ainsworth are the two that played almost all of the JLT series, so they’ve both given themselves a chance to be there Round 1. Whether we go with both, only time will tell — or we’ll go with one. But they’re the two.”

Eade added that the Suns were “extremely pleased” with their four trade acquisitions in Michael Barlow (Fremantle), Pearce Hanley (Brisbane Lions), Jarryd Lyons (Adelaide) and Jarrod Witts (Collingwood).

Originally published as The move that’ll boost Gaz ‘by 10 per cent’