GOLD Coast expects to reappoint Gary Ablett as captain, which would end year-long speculation about the club's ongoing leadership.

The dual Brownlow medallist has been the Suns' skipper since they entered the AFL in 2011 but his position was questioned in a horror season in which Ablett spent much of the season sidelined with shoulder and knee injuries and the club was beset by off-field dramas.

However, Gold Coast football manager Marcus Ashcroft insisted the club was pleased with Ablett's influence and suggested the 31-year-old would skipper the club for a sixth season.

"I think so. We are really happy with the way the leadership group is going, not only Gaz but the whole group really owning it and driving it," he told The Herald Sun.

"We see it internally every day. I think Gaz really led from the front when he wasn’t playing. With all the hard stuff we went through, he was front-and-centre trying to help the club through it.

"From his point of view he is really motivated to get himself right to play and get the club into a position where he knows he can get it."

Ashcroft expected Ablett to return from his off-season break in good shape, given he had been training by himself for some time.

"He is going really well after his injuries," Ashcroft said.

"He has been to (Fiji and) Papua New Guinea as well but he has been at the club and working in the gym and he’s worked himself really hard.

"He could have played a few weeks after the last game but he just kept on training to make sure he was right.

"We extended his contract for three years so from his point of view he would love to have the next three years as the best three years of his footy career."

Ashcroft also said he expected the Suns to have "almost everyone" available for the start of pre-season training, with Jaeger O'Meara and David Swallow not far off after undergoing knee surgery this year.