Abbott made his senior debut for during the 2013 ITM Cup and went on to play 11 of the Magpies 12 games during the year which culminated with them losing 26-25 to in the Championship playoff final.
Unfortunately for the Magpies, their stay in New Zealand's top flight was to last only one season as they ended up in last place on the Mitre 10 Cup Premiership log after recording just 2 wins from 10 games.