convinced to return to top-level competition—at least temporarily. Having been given until the start of 2008 to make a decision, Ablett decided on 7 January 2008 to walk away from AFL for at least one year, but he didn't rule out a possible return at some stage. In May 2008, media outlets reported Geelong coach Mark Thompson as saying, "I've spoken to him (Nathan Ablett) a few times and it's probably a bit late for this year, for him to play AFL, but that's not the real point, the point is he's missing footy and he is thinking about a return." Nathan re-commenced training with Geelong on 9 July 2008. Although he was expected to play in Geelong's VFL side in the later part of the 2008 season, an ankle injury, sustained from playing basketball, sidelined him for the remainder of the year. It was announced on 2 September 2008 that Nathan would not be pursuing an AFL career in 2009, instead choosing to become a plumber. He subsequently signed with the Broadbeach Cats to play in the AFL Queensland State League. Ablett returned to AFL football in 2011, signing for the Gold Coast Suns alongside his brother in the club's inaugural AFL season. His Suns debut came in Round 22 against Adelaide, almost four years after his previous AFL appearance. He was delisted at the end of the season, playing only two games for the Suns and kicking one goal. Ablett played for Victorian Football League side Werribee in 2012. Statistics |- |- style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2005 |style="text-align:center;"| | 23 || 4 || 8 || 2 || 19 || 8 || 27 || 13 || 5 || 2.0 || 0.5 || 4.8 || 2.0 || 6.8 || 3.3 || 1.3 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2006 |style="text-align:center;"| | 23 || 7 || 4 || 3 || 33 || 23 || 56 || 27 || 5 || 0.6 || 0.4 || 4.7 || 3.3 || 8.0 || 3.9 || 0.7 |- style="background-color: #EAEAEA" | scope=row bgcolor=F0E68C | 2007 |style="text-align:center;"| | 23 || 21 || 34 || 18 || 117 || 74 || 191 || 86 || 28 || 1.6 || 0.9 || 5.6 || 3.5 || 9.1 || 4.1 || 1.3 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2011 |style="text-align:center;"| | 55 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 9 || 13 || 22 || 5 || 3 ||