Sitting at the Suns table on Monday night were NAB AFL Rising Star Jaeger O'Meara, who polled four votes, and midfielder Dion Prestia, who finished on nine votes. Exciting youngster Harley Bennell polled seven votes.
Coach Guy McKenna said the blossoming trio had the best leader they could hope for, with Ablett the 14th player in League history to win the Brownlow Medal multiple times.
"To be a champion you've got to mimic one and I think they've got one amongst them," McKenna told the Seven Network on Monday night.
"Jaeger O'Meara won the NAB Rising Star, Dion Prestia did pretty well tonight, Harley Bennell, David Swallow, the list goes on.
"These boys sit back and watch him train and now they're starting to try and mimic Gary.
"As coaches we can get up and go blue in the face, but when they've got someone living and breathing what you expect, it's very easy for them to follow."
Ablett spoke about his desire to win a premiership with his second club, and there were signs through 2013 that the Suns were on track to become a contender while Ablett, 29, is still contributing.
"We've had six 50-gamers this year so the group's actually starting to mature, they're starting to get some traction in the AFL," McKenna said.
"It's really key for us to have a good off-season so we can really attack the pre-season.
"We grew from three wins to eight wins this year, and I haven't see any rules where they actually hand you eight wins at the start of next season.
"So we've got to start afresh and we want to build on those eight wins next season."
Twitter: @AFL_Nathan
