Robert Harvey (footballer)
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Robert Jeffrey Harvey (born August 21, 1971) is an Australian Rules Footballer in the Australian Football League recognised as one of the League's best midfielders and noted for his supreme endurance.
Early career
Recruited from St Kilda's VCFL zone, he made his VFL debut in 1988 when he was recruited from local team Seaford by the St Kilda Football Club (the league changed its name to the AFL in 1990). He is the only current player who played in the pre-AFL, VFL days.
Trademarks
Harvey is a playmaker noted for his hard running and ability to evade tackles using techniques such as the shrug, baulk, dummy, sidestep and blind turn. These attributes give him room to run the ball and dispose effectively through his deft handpasses and kicks.He is also known for an explosive acceleration and freakish endurance.
Awards
In a distinguished career, Harvey has won countless awards and medals, including consecutive Brownlow Medals, the league's highest honour, in 1997 and 1998. He was the club best and fairest in 1992, 1994, 1997 and 1998, and made the All-Australian team seven times. He won three EJ Whitten Medals, as well as the 1997 AFL Players Association Award (now known as the Leigh Matthews Trophy). Though he has never played in an AFL premiership side, he did play in two "night premierships" (pre-season), in 1996 and 2004, as well as the losing 1997 AFL Grand Final side against the Adelaide Crows.Injuries
Harvey has struggled with numerous injuries in the recent past, he has undergone a knee reconstruction as well as suffering from numerous hamstring problems. In 2003 and 2004, however, he was able to play out a full season with the Saints. Harvey became the fourth player to play 300 games for the St Kilda Football Club in the 2004 Preliminary Final against Port Adelaide. In 2006 Harvey became the games record holder at St Kilda.St Kilda Games Record
In round 7, 2006 against Geelong in front of a near full house at the the Dome,Harvey broke the all-time games record for the St Kilda Football Club (set by Nathan Burke) with 324 games. To celebrate this, the Saints wore special guernseys with a logo in the centre. Surprisingly, the Saints lost to lowly Geelong, going down by 18 points.
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References
- [Robert Harvey (footballer) profile] on [Saints.com.au]
- St Kilda Football Club (2005), St Kilda Football Club Media Handbook 2005.
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