With Luke Hodge retiring and Gary Ablett Jnr in the twilight of his career, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to take a look back at the 2001 AFL 'Super' Draft.
The 'Super' Draft is widely regarded as one of the best of all time, boasting a number of stars all the way through it. It was also the draft that formed the nucleus of Geelong's triple-premiership side, one of the greatest teams of the modern era.
Heck, we couldn't even squeeze in names like Jason Gram, Adam Schneider, Andrew Carrazzo and Brett Thornton this draft was so deep!
Here is Zero Hanger's re-drafted first round of the 2001 AFL 'Super' Draft, including players taken in the Rookie Draft:
1. Gary Ablett Jnr (Hawthorn)
There was some absolute stars in this draft, but none greater than Gary Ablett Jnr.
Widely regarded as one of the best players of all time, the son-of-a-gun has done it all. And it's only fitting that he is the last remaining active player from the 'Super' Draft.
Originally taken with pick 40 under the father-son rule, Ablett displayed flashes of brilliance in his early days as a small forward, but no one could've predicted that he would live up to his legendary name.
Like a lot of Cats, it was 2007 where Ablett took his game to new heights, making a permanent move to the midfield to help Geelong win its first premiership since 1963.
From 2009-2014, Ablett averaged 33.8, 31.5, 30.2, 33.8, 31.2 and 32.1 disposals respectively, while booting at least 1.3 goals a game in five of those six seasons.
A monster accumulator that boasts electric speed, kicks goals and makes good decisions under pressure with pinpoint disposal, Ablett really is the ultimate modern day footballer.
The Little Master is a two-time premiership player, two-time Brownlow medallist, five-time Leigh Matthews trophy winner, eight-time All Australian, six-time best and fairest winner and led his club's goal kicking three times.
He moved to the Suns in 2011 before returning to the Cattery in 2018, now spending his twilight days how it all begun - kicking bags of goals up forward.
