There has been concern over Ablett ever since the final year of his first historic contract – those early months of 2015 – when the signs became red flags that the champion was putting himself worryingly in front of his fledgling club.

Negotiations dragged on with the Suns and Ablett's management struggling for a period to come to terms over issues ranging from airline flights to marketing money. Simultaneously, club and player were at odds over his recovery from a serious shoulder injury, including Ablett's attitude to pain medication.

Perhaps this is not unusual for one of the game's highest-paid players, but the club's frustration with its captain and his sensitivity to certain public appearances, his role as the face of the club, his financial demands and his struggle to take ownership of some of Gold Coast's key issues became a talking point.

In the end though, Ablett signed on for three years – the timing was of his choosing – and a total $3 million. That he should even entertain a trade after just one year, given the worrying exodus from the club and its struggle to lure footballers from other states, is disappointing.

All year, there have been hints that Ablett and Geelong wanted to bring the band back together and clearly only the hard-hearted would begrudge him lingering regrets.

No one disputes Ablett's contribution to the Suns during his first four years. One Brownlow Medal, one runner-up, three best-and-fairests, four All-Australians – including one captaincy – and two Leigh Matthews trophies.

As the club's founding CEO Travis Auld stated on that momentous day at Crown in late September 2010, the unveiling of Ablett marked the birth of the football club.

It was not Ablett's fault that the club made errors in some early key appointments and player selections; that it poached a franchise code-hopper on AFL millions who departed the club in disgrace after indulging in a cocaine-fuelled break-up with younger players; that he suffered serious injury and has been over-burdened in his midfield role for far too long.

Ablett was never going to be a captain capable of leading the club out of the significant cultural mire, which reached its climax over 2014 and 2015, particularly when his fellow on-field leaders in the early years were largely poorly chosen.

Gold Coast has been quick to insist this week that Ablett has accepted his position and, once told by the Suns he would not be allowed to leave, emotionally re-committed to the club and has ably assisted in the recruitment of new players. Both the Suns and Geelong point to family pressures as fuelling his trade request.

But Ablett is 32, for heaven's sake. Surely the time to make excuses based on family has passed. His unequivocal commitment to the club should have taken place when he signed his $3 million contract until the end of 2018. Or he should have plotted his departure then.

The increasingly flexible player movement rules have handed footballers significant freedom and Ablett chose to be a significantly handsomely-paid pioneer, a decision he reinforced with his second contract.

Clearly, his dream of holding up the premiership cup has dissipated because rightly he will now relinquish the Gold Coast leadership.

The supremely talented Tom Lynch will share that position with Steven May, who charged into contention after returning from his lengthy suspension at the start of last season. May's open contempt for Jaeger O'Meara's departure speech, after keeping the club in suspense for so long, left his teammates in no doubt regarding his allegiances.

AFL boss Gillon McLachlan was bullish at the 2017 fixture launch regarding the Gold Coast's prospects and player talent after what can only be described as a disappointing early history.

Now Ablett must grasp the opportunity to play a major part in that and ensure his ongoing existence in the rarefied air he deserves as a champion athlete and one of football's legends. An annual wage of $1 million from a club costing the competition multiples of that amount every year should help dictate the courage of one's convictions.