350 gamer Brent Harvey - his standing in the game

[ESKIE]

Yeah he's been selfish here and there. I'll take that though. I mean, he played in some pretty grey periods for our club. I'd rather that he hogged it and kicked the goals himself in some of our eras. What was he gonna do, pass it off to Rawlings or someone?

I'm obviously biased, but I put him right up there in that second tier echelon someone mentioned, the one with Voss, Bucks and Riciutto. I don't see why not. I know they were awarded Brownlows, but Harvey has polled pretty well and consistently. I can't be stuffed, but overall votes per year for each of the players, ignoring whether or not they actually won one, I think they'd all be on quite similar. Add to this Harvey's goalkicking ability, and his longevity, he has to be up there.

I admit I'm biased though. I freaking love this guy.

Good one, and so you should love him

Champion of your club

I reckon he's under rated.

Beat Essendon last year with 5 mnutes of football...lol

He's a champ

 

[Shinboner '07]

How can people say he is selfish, he's like top 5 for score assists..

 

[KennyHunter9]

Durable, dependable

Hard running and keeps running

Great offence, lousy defence

Undisciplined, selfish

Originator of the chicken wing

Very good player, but to speak of him in the same breath as Voss, Riccuito etc is just not right.

 

[Dan]

An honest trier, nothing special.

 

[Stan_Darsh72]

A very good player for the Roos over the years and had 2 great seasons in 2007 and 2008, been consistent for North. There have been better players than him but they are all time greats such as Roo, Voss, R Harvey, Hird and Buckley but most players would kill to have a career like his.

 

[jacko57]

Can Boomer play 2 more seasons and get to 400games. This seems quite possible to me. I have the guy in my Supercoach team so I am very aware of the impact that he's still making week in week out at the age of 35.

Barring major injury, yes. Would be a serious weapon if we can afford to play him as the sub maybe 2 games in 4 in 2014 or even '15.

 

[kangafruity]

Ahh the usual vitriol from North supporters when anyone dare not rate Harvey as an all-time great.

I standy by my equal with Brad Johnson call, as most impartial judges would.

But you see he has one thing Brad doesn't and its what each and every footballer plays for a PREMIERSHIP medal, so he will always be rated higher because of that

 

[Stan_Darsh72]

Barring major injury, yes. Would be a serious weapon if we can afford to play him as the sub maybe 2 games in 4 in 2014 or even '15.

Has he ever been seriously injured?

He never seems to miss a lot of games 17 years at 20 - 23 games a year he seems to be tracking for 400 and North are not reliant on him so as long as he gets two goals a game on a HFF he should reach 400.

 

[tazaa]

He is 35. He is still dangerous in todays game and for his size that is remarkable.
He is a premiership player, EJ Whitten medalist, Jim Stynes medalist, 4 time All Australian, 5 time Best and fairest and was twice runner up in the brownlow.
He is a great of the game and one of the best ever for North. He will go down as a football legend.
I would rate him similar to an Andy McLeod, a Peter Bell, Brad Johnson.

 

[Hunters Host #3]

Has he ever been seriously injured?

He dislocated his elbow about four years ago, against Richmond for memory.

Apart from that, he hasn't fallen victim to soft tissue injuries or anything recurring.

 

[jacko57]

Has he ever been seriously injured?

He never seems to miss a lot of games 17 years at 20 - 23 games a year he seems to be tracking for 400 and North are not reliant on him so as long as he gets two goals a game on a HFF he should reach 400.

IIRC he had a dislocated shoulder, somewhere around 05-06. Played with the injury, despite 3 or 4 Hawks trying to work him over all night.....so much for another poster who suggested he lacks courage.

he also had a shoulder (elbow) injury maybe 3 years back, in what was described at the time as a 'chickenwing' tackle, which I think kept him out for 3 or 4 games.

 

[boomer_29]

I find it hilarious that people are saying that Boomer isn't in the same category as Hird, Voss or Buckley because of his ability or talent. Anyone who has watched all four careers would know that Boomer CLEARLY has far more talent and skill than those 3 - you can see this by a quick youtube search of all 4. He has won more games off his own boot than those three as shown by 34* three vote games (and counting) in his career and his 418 goals. Compared to James Hird 19, Nathan Buckley 33 and Voss 26. The only thing stopping Boomer from being in the same league as these 3 is a Brownlow medal in which he was so close to in both 2007 (runner up) and 2008.

To those who are questioning his ability to impact a game when he is tagged. What a joke, he has been the first tagged at North Melbourne for 10 years and has still managed to tear teams apart time and time again. He is still first tagged at 35 years old as shown today by Geary going straight to him, and he still tore St Kilda to shreds in another 3 vote performance with 23 touches and 4.4 including a goal that Voss, Buckley or Hird could have only ever dream of.

The cold hard fact is that 95% of the people have only watched Boomer when he plays against them once or twice a year and haven't followed his career. There will also be alot of you that are too young to have seen 3/4 of Boomers career (and thus your comments are irrelevant). These people wouldn't have seen Boomer consistently performing GREAT year after year for nearly 15 years.

Boomer already is a legend of the game, he will go on to play 400 games and kick over 500 goals and that will just confirm it.

 

[robertto]

i think he is a very good player over a very long period of time, but not an "all time great", and not close to buckley, hird, voss, goodes ect.

i dont think boomer has every really been considered the best player in the game, and really is never mentioned the top 10, so on that basis hes is just not a great.

also you probably have to watch games live to see how much of downhill skyer he is, if theres a chances of a goal with his name on it he'll run like lightning, but if theres a north tunover, he jogs back. so i dont really think hes a very good leader either.

Im not saying he is in anyway bad, just that he is a very good player over a huge period of time.

 

[boomer_29]

i think he is a very good player over a very long period of time, but not an "all time great", and not close to buckley, hird, voss, goodes ect.

i dont think boomer has every really been considered the best player in the game, and really is never mentioned the top 10, so on that basis hes is just not a great.

also you probably have to watch games live to see how much of downhill skyer he is, if theres a chances of a goal with his name on it he'll run like lightning, but if theres a north tunover, he jogs back. so i dont really think hes a very good leader either.

Im not saying he is in anyway bad, just that he is a very good player over a huge period of time.

Never mentioned in the top 10?

- 2007 Brownlow runner up
- 2007 Lou Richards Medal
- 2008 Herald Sun Player of the year
- 2008 Lou Richards Medal

Was clearly in the top 3 midfielders in those 2 years, probably 2nd behind Gary Ablett Jnr (who we all know will go down as the best midfielder of all time).

 

[royals1922]

Where do you want to start:

There are 67 men who have played 300 or more AFL games , only 4 of them have been below 180cm being Murray (178cm), Schimmelbusch (179 cm), Bartlett ( 177cm) and...... Harvey (172cm)

Brownlow votes - He has got 159 Brownlow votes in his career.
Goals- He has scored 414 goals 267 behinds at over a goal a game in his career.
Goal assists- His 169 goals assists in 220 recorded games is 6th highest behind Judd, Johnson, Goodes, Riewoldt and Ablett.
Inside 50s- His 1311 inside 50s in 331 recorded games at just under 4 a game is second only to Akermanis.
Clearances - His 818 clearances at 2.5 per game in 331 recorded games is 25th in recorded figures.
Clangers - He has made 627 clangers in 331 games at a rate of 1.89 per game, 0.2 on average below every other player in the top 30 recorded players for clangers.
Bounces- His 854 bounces in 308 games is the highest of any recorded player.
Contested possesions- His 2256 contested possessions in 308 recorded games at 7.32 per game is 13th among recorded players.
Uncontested possesions- He is also the master of uncontested possessions with 4380 in 308 recoded games. He can get his own ball and be ready to use the ball if necessary.
Disposals-His 7.269 disposals at average 20 per game is 7th highest of recorded AFL players on RL Stats and with Black and Hayes, they are the only current players in the top 30 recorded players.
Kicks - His 4618 kicks at 13 per game is 7th highest on RL Stats and with fletcher and Goodes, they are the only current players in the top 30 recorded players.
Handballs- His 2651 handball at 7 per game is 21st highest and he is one 11 current day players in the top 30 recorded.

There has been one disappointment - he has only ever had 1 hit out in his career.

Harvey is a champion.

Those were the numbers for Harvey pre game 350 and in game 350 it was just same old same old....he was as good in game 350 as he has ever been.

A champion....

 

[underthestars]

Second best ever Harvey to play (although well short of his namesake)!

 

[royals1922]

Second best ever Harvey to play (although well short of his namesake)!

You wish........

 

[skilts]

The sort of thing I used to say about Craig Bradley, Kevin Bartlett, Greg Williams and John Platten is what can be said about 'Boomer'. As an opposition supporter, he was a really annoying little bastard. Wonderful footballer though, as were the others.

 

[Thewlis Dish]

For those who are using being selfish as a criticism (countless goal assists aside), given how deadly he is around goal and how often his runs end up in goals, at what point does it stop being selfish and start being the best thing for the team?

 

[skilts]

Second best ever Harvey to play (although well short of his namesake)!

I'm surprised that you saw Ron Harvey play for Fitzroy in the 1950s and 1960s.

 

[underthestars]

You wish........

Hmmm? Only just started watching the game?
Some north supporter threw a couple of your little fellas achievements up - think it included a runners up brownlow and some other trinket here or there. Go look at the other Harvey's achievements. Like comparing a rather annoying mangy tabby cat with a sleek and regal lion.
Not wanting to put boomer down, very good player for a long time, but perspective please.

 

[underthestars]

I'm surprised that you saw Ron Harvey play for Fitzroy in the 1950s and 1960s.

Good that you remember him. Most don't. There's a reason for that. Boomer has him covered.

 

[Stan_Darsh72]

You wish........

Robert was better
2 browlows
1 mvp
8 all australians
4 best and Fairests
2 most brownlow votes
3 EJ Whitten Medals
He also played in a era where stats were not a descriptive so we don't know how much goal assists he has got but i reckon it would be way more than boomer

 

[skilts]

Good that you remember him. Most don't. There's a reason for that. Boomer has him covered.

I see no reason to visit the issue of people's preferred sexuality.

 

[Damon_3388]

On the same rung as Crawford, Cousins, Black, Archer, West, McLeod.

How would North fans compare him with Archer?

Off-topic a bit, but I wouldn't put Archer in that company to be honest, despite his current place in the AFL Hall of Fame.

Archer was tough, reliable, courageous, durable and embodied the old-time "Shinboner Spirit" like nobody else, but he was never a superstar of the game (genuinely surprised to learn that he gained All-Australian selection three times TBH), and never even won a club B&F.

I mean, consider someone like Wayne Schwass - Played 282 league games, won two B&Fs for North in that era (plus another for Sydney), is named in the Kangaroos Team of the Century, was an All-Australian and a Premiership player, was courageous, exciting, fast and skillful, and has the novelty factor of being one of the few Maoris to play Australian Rules at the highest level, yet you'd probably get laughed out of the place for suggesting him as a Hall of Famer or great of the game.

Same goes for someone like Marcus Ashcroft - 318 games (including 170 consecutively from 1992-2000), absolute stalwart of the Brisbane club (over 150 games as both a Bear and a Lion), 3-time Premiership player, as tough, durable and versatile as you'll ever find, has a bloody medal named in his honour (for BOG in the QClash), yet he's probably nowhere near consideration for HOF honours in the next few years, and nobody except the most dyed-in-the-wool Bears supporters would describe him as "an all-time great".

I'd consider Schwass and Ashcroft to be at the same level as individual players as Archer was, yet I wouldn't expect them in the HOF anytime soon, and wouldn't term them as all-time greats either.

For the era that he played (1992-2007), I'd struggle to include Archer (or Schwass, or Ashcroft) in the best 22 players to play the game in that 15 year period, let alone as one of the greatest of all time in the AFL Hall of Fame, where he sits now.

As for Harvey, he'd would make a best 22 for the era he's played (1996-present), and was/is a better player overall than Archer IMO too. The fact that he's been so consistently good and durable, despite nearly always being the smallest player in the league, and is still playing as well as ever at age 35, is a testament to his ability. "Great of the game"? No, but certainly a very, very good player, and a stalwart and icon of the NMFC.