ANOTHER chapter is set to be added to the incredible Blair Harvey story when the Heidelberg legend steps out for his 300th senior game this weekend.
The five-time premiership player and four-time premiership captain will reach the landmark figure when first-placed Heidelberg travels to Montmorency Park to take on Lower Plenty on Saturday.
Harvey’s senior career began with Northcote Park in 1996.
Following stints with Parkside and North Heidelberg, he transferred to Heidelberg in 2002 where he has been the backbone in one of the most dominant sides in league history.
Captain of the Tigers’ Team of the Decade, Harvey is the longest serving captain in Heidelberg’s history and, along with Northcote Park’s Matthew Amad, has won the most premierships as captain in the DVFL/NFL.
Speaking on the eve of his 300th game, Harvey said hard work and dedication had allowed him to remain playing football in the top flight for close to two decades.
“Personally, I think what you put in is what you get out of it,” Harvey said.
“I’ve worked super hard and to look back and know I did work and pushed myself as hard as I could is a nice feeling.”
Success and Harvey have been synonymous with each other for the best part of his football journey.
He played in his first Grand Final with North Heidelberg in 2001, before guiding Heidelberg to every final series since 2004 – including a league record nine successive Grand Finals between 2004 and 2012.
Reflecting back on his time, Harvey said he felt honoured to play alongside some of the best players in local football over the past 15 years.
He lists Danny Nolan, Justin Murphy and Jason Kennedy as three of the best players he has played alongside at Warringal Park, and revered imposing spearheads Saul Caddy, Jamie Shaw and Jason Heatley in his time at the Bulldogs.
Like any footballer, Harvey has had to endure some tough times – in particular a run of three successive Grand Final defeats between 2010 and 2012.
“It’s a shocking feeling losing a Grand Final and the difference between winning one and losing one is unbelievable,” he said.
“To win one you just feel ecstasy and enjoyment knowing that it’s done and you’ve achieved the ultimate.
"On the other scale, when you lose you have trained all year and think you’ve done everything right and to fall over at the final hurdle is heartbreaking."
Harvey lists the 2011 Grand Final loss to Bundoora as the most painful loss he has been associated with.
“The one that hurt the most was 2011 (against Bundoora) when I was captain-coach," he said.
"We were staring down the barrel after three or four rounds and we turned it around as a playing group. Looking back if we’d won that one it would have been unbelievable.”
Many had forecast a slide down the ladder for Heidelberg in 2014, following the off-season departure of many of Harvey’s former premiership teammates and close friends.
Harvey, himself, has been surprised by the club’s outstanding form this season, which has the Tigers sitting outright first on the ladder with nine wins from their opening ten games.
“At the start of the year when we lost so many experienced players we didn’t know how we were going to go,” he said.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling around the football club at the moment with all the new blokes and young blokes that have come in.
“Having the new blokes in has been refreshing for myself. They’ve been putting pressure on me to stay fit and play well to hold my spot.
"They’re pretty cheeky and keep telling me I’m pretty old but it has been enjoyable and freshened me right up.
“For a while Heidelberg went down the path of just topping up every year and eventually this needed to happen.
“It’s the old cliché, but we really are just taking it one week at a time. We’re not getting ahead of ourselves at all.”
While his head is telling him to go on, Harvey conceded 2014 will be his 19th and last season as a player, admitting that a number of injuries in recent years had begun taking a toll.
In Round 2 he suffered a ‘hairy’ incident when he tore his pectoral and dislocated his collarbone in a heavy bump against Whittlesea.
The injury left him temporarily without feeling in his fingers courtesy of a bulging disc in his neck.
After a six-week layoff Harvey returned to guide his side to an away victory over former ladder-leader Greensborough, the result handing first place back to the Tigers.
With his new-look team flying, a sixth premiership success at season’s end could well be on the cards in what would be a fairytale ending to one of the great playing careers in grassroots football.
The Blair Harvey Story – Career Highlights
– North Heidelberg Best & Fairest 2001
– Heidelberg Captain 2004 – 2008 & 2010 – 2012
– Heidelberg Best & Fairest 2006
– Heidelberg Playing Coach 2011
– Premiership Captain 2004, 06, 07, 08
– Premiership Player 2009
– Best on Ground 2008 Grand Final
– Heidelberg Team of the Decade (captain)
– Longest serving captain in Heidelberg’s history.
– Equal most Premierships as captain in DVFL history (shared with Matty Amad)
– NFL Interleague captain 2008
