disposals and six tackles per game. However, he suffered another season-ending shoulder injury during the round 16 win over Brisbane. He polled six votes in the 2016 Brownlow Medal, taking him to a total of 220 career votes; the equal-highest number in history (alongside Hawthorn's Sam Mitchell). In addition he has now received votes in 103 games, placing him second on the list of total games in which votes were awarded to a single player. During the 2016 trade period, Ablett requested a trade back to Geelong for "family reasons." Ablett later stepped down as Suns' captain, stating he was unsure if he would play on after the 2017 season. In the early rounds of the 2017 season, speculation about his commitment to the Suns escalated after the team lost the first two matches. He was criticised by experts such as Matthew Lloyd for his poor performance in the Suns' 102-point loss to , who said Ablett needed to "suck it up" as he was no longer playing in the midfield and was now in forced to play in a position he did not enjoy. Following the 2017 AFL season, Ablett won his fourth Gold Coast Suns Club Champion award, despite playing only 14 games. He polled 14 votes in the 2017 Brownlow Medal count, taking him to outright second all-time career votes behind Gary Dempsey. By polling 3 votes in 3 rounds of the 2017 season, he became the first player to receive the maximum 3 votes in 50 matches. On 26 September 2017, Gold Coast announced that Ablett had requested a trade back to Geelong. It was reported that Ablett was seeking a return home for "family reasons", and if no trade was forthcoming, he would quit football despite being contracted to play at Gold Coast until the end of 2018. Second stint at Geelong (2018–2020) In October 2017, Ablett was traded back to Geelong. His 2018 preseason was impacted by injury followed by a significant injury in the Round 3 loss to West Coast. Upon his return, Ablett drew criticism from AFL media figures such as Wayne Carey, who believed that Ablett should not be played in the Cats' midfield. Following his return from injury, Ablett's form quickly improved, with a best on ground performance in the win over North Melbourne in Round 12 equalling Sam Mitchell's record of 121 games with 30 or more possessions. After