GEELONG coach Mark Thompson believes that champion midfielder Gary Ablett has made up his mind whether to accept a lucrative offer from the Gold Coast, and it is now a waiting game for the Cats.

"Gary probably already knows what he’s going to do," Thompson said from Skilled Stadium on Tuesday.

"So we’ve just got to wait for him to tell us which way he is going to go."

Ablett, last season's Brownlow Medalist, is out of contract at the end of the season and is contemplating a massive offer from Gold Coast, which has already signed his brother Nathan, a former Geelong premiership player.

Thompson betrayed some frustration with the contract situation.

"I couldn’t care about Gary Ablett this week, apart from hoping he plays and plays well," he said.

"He's only one of 47 players, really, and there is a lot of speculation about him in the media but, to be honest, the players don't care that much. I couldn’t care less. I just want to get out and play Essendon."

Despite his desire for a resolution in the near future, the coach wouldn't be drawn on his reaction to a scenario where Ablett informed him of his intention to depart the Cattery while the 2010 season was in progress.

"That hasn't happened, so I won't speculate on something that I don't know has happened until it actually happens," he said.

Thompson labeled the ongoing speculation surrounding Ablett and the controversy caused by Mathew Stokes' arrest on drugs charges as just some of the challenges an AFL club is faced with every year and is confident the issues won't derail the Cats' bid for back to back flags.

He certainly isn't buying into the theory that after two flags in three years, Geelong is on the decline.

"Historically that's what people think, but we're trying to break history and create history. We've got to have the belief that we just want to keep going and play great football.

"We've lost up to 10 players who are on other clubs' lists right now that have been Geelong players and we've lost Nathan Ablett and Matthew Egan, so that's 12 players and we're still a good team.

"I think our track record speaks for itself - we know how to develop players and we've got some good young players coming through."

Thompson forecast a strong team to take on the Bombers, with Joel Corey rated as a good chance to injury and play. Max Rooke, however, is still at least three weeks away from AFL action as he continues to battle knee tendonitis.

Mature-age rookie James Podsiadly was elevated recently, but Thompson was coy on the 28-year-old's chances of making his long-awaited debut.

Gary Ablett is a $522,000 midfielder in the Toyota AFL Dream Team competition