Ablett will take the field against Adelaide on Sunday after escaping sanction for an incident involving Western Bulldog Liam Picken at the weekend, but his teammates say playing without him no longer daunts them.
Young vice-captains Tom Lynch, Dion Prestia and David Swallow all believe Gold Coast now has the depth to cover an Ablett-less outfit.
On Monday, Prestia said the Suns would have been "stuffed" if Ablett missed a game in their first two seasons, and the stats back him up.
In fact, Gold Coast has played just five games without its resilient skipper to date, losing all five by an average margin of 63 points.
"We've got a lot of midfielders that can step up to the plate," Prestia said. "We've shown that in the last couple of weeks with Jaeger (O'Meara), Dave (Swallow) and Shawry (Matt Shaw), who can all step up to the plate if they need to."
Against the Bulldogs, Ablett was largely uninfluential through the first half, before he rallied to finish with 24 disposals, but the young Suns midfielders were able to match their more experienced counterparts.
"We've got a little more depth now, which is nice," Swallow said.
"And the likes of (Rising Star nominee) Kade (Kolodjashnij) and (draftee) Seany (Sean Lemmens) coming in obviously helps as well."
Ablett is having another stellar season and is a red-hot favourite to win his third Brownlow Medal, but his support cast is both benefiting and improving.
Swallow is having a career-best season, averaging 23 disposals, while Prestia (28) and O'Meara (22) have also been prolific ball winners.
"We copped a bit of stick saying we don't help Gaz out enough, which was probably right early days," Lynch said after Sunday's win.
"He was playing a lone hand, but we've got a really good midfield spread now with Prestia, Swallow, O'Meara, (Michael) Rischitelli, who's having a wonderful season back from injury.
"It's real exciting to see we don't have to rely on Gaz. We love him playing the way he's playing, but it's good progress for us."
Thankfully for the Suns, they can wait a little longer to test the theory in practise.
Twitter: @AFL_mikewhiting
