Gold Coast captain Gary Ablett is confident his injury woes are behind him going into the 2016 AFL season.
The dual Brownlow Medallist managed just six games for the Suns last year as he struggled to recover from the serious shoulder injury that ended his 2014 campaign prematurely.
Ablett has spent most of the off-season with his left shoulder heavily strapped but he says that was largely precautionary.
"The shoulder's feeling great," Ablett told myGC.com.au.
"It's nice and strong. I've been managing it through pre-season just to make sure I haven't been doing anything to stir it up.
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"The plan was to get it right for for round one. I'll play a couple of practice matches before that, make sure I'm ready to go and hopefully play 22 games this year and some finals footy."
Ablett says he's hoping to participate in an intra-club match at Metricon Stadium on Saturday morning.
The Suns' opening pre-season cup fixture is against Brisbane in Burpengary on February 21 before they play troubled Essendon in the opening round of the AFL season at Metricon Stadium on March 26.
