GARY Ablett is just below his sublime best so far this season, but Suns coach Rodney Eade says it has nothing to do with his body.
Ablett played just six games in 2015 with a combination of shoulder and knee injuries, and after missing the entire pre-season, has started the first five rounds a little slowly.
That's a relative term though, as the dual Brownlow medallist is still averaging 29 disposals a game – good enough for 17th in the competition.
Eade is pleased with his captain's progress, saying he "turned a corner" in the second half of Saturday night's loss against North Melbourne.
More importantly, Ablett's reconstructed shoulder and repaired knee are doing well through the first part of the year.
He copped a corked calf and Ben Cunnington knees in his back last week, but Eade said the 31-year-old has recovered well.
"His shoulder is fine if people are worried, you'll notice on the weekend he didn't even strap his shoulder, so his shoulder is 100 percent," Eade said.
"He's trained well this week. It's just a couple of little knocks here and there affecting him.
"There's no doubt you'd love Gary at his best.
"I think he's been more than serviceable.
"He's just been carrying those little niggles here and there on his body from little knocks.
"It's been a fairly free run this week so hopefully he can perform at that level we've come to expect."
In good news for the Suns, Dion Prestia has recovered quicker than expected from a shoulder problem and will be named in the Suns' 24-man squad to play Geelong.
The Suns expected Prestia to miss the match as recently as Wednesday, but the prolific midfielder defied the odds and trained strongly on Thursday.
He will need to pass a final test in Geelong to play. Eade said Prestia would not play unless he was 100 percent.
Michael Rischitelli will see a surgeon in Melbourne on Friday to assess the best course of action for his subluxed shoulder.
"It's not an uncommon injury," Eade said.
"Him being mentally tough, we do the right strength work, he should be able to play in a few weeks.
"By the same token there might be episodes along the way."
