Tom Harley

One of three children born to Rick and Trish Harley in Adelaide, South Australia. Tom played most of his junior football for the Walkerville Junior Football Club and St Peter's College from the under–11s to under–15s. Despite being regularly overlooked for a place in the elite South Australian junior state squads, he continued to follow the rest of the squad to training sessions in order to learn alongside them. Harley's persistent attendance at training was rewarded when he was called up to the under–18s squad as a late injury replacement a week prior to the national AFL championships. Playing at centre half-back, Harley's performance in defence earned him end-of-year All-Australian honours and brought him to the attention of AFL scouts. ==AFL career==

Port Adelaide experience (1998) Following their entry into the AFL in 1997, Port Adelaide drafted Harley to the club as part of their zone selections, which entitled them to recruit uncontracted players from the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) prior to the 1996 National Draft. He struggled to break into the Port Adelaide senior team, and often found himself playing in the SANFL reserves for Norwood during the 1997 season, where he helped the team reach the SANFL reserves Grand Final, where they were defeated by Port Adelaide. His consistency throughout the year, during which he played in all club fixture games for the first time in his career, was rewarded when he won the club's Most Determined and Dedicated Player Award. and was also chosen to help improve communication links between players, coaching staff and the board of directors. Harley helped the team compile an 18–4 win–loss record at the conclusion of the home and away season, earning them their eighth McClelland Trophy and securing first position on the ladder leading into the finals series. Harley led the defence to the number one defensive record in the league during the season, by letting only 1664 points be scored against them. during the season for the second consecutive year. As a result, he struggled to contribute for the rest of the game as Geelong lost to Hawthorn by 26 points. Harley missed the first six rounds of the 2009 campaign with a knee injury, before returning to feature in fourteen games for the year. Despite Harley's injury-riddled campaign, Geelong finished the home-and-away campaign in second place on the ladder with an 18–4 win–loss record. Following the failure of 2008, Harley suggested that the club had learned that it needed to "just be the best team in September" Harley retired as one of the most successful captains in Geelong's history: during his three years as captain, Harley led the club to a club-high two premierships—equalling the accomplishments of Fred Flanagan—and compiled a 49–7 win–loss record. His legacy at the club was pronounced by Thompson as being "one of the great captains in the history of the Geelong Football Club". ==After retiring as a player==

in 2013. In the weeks following his retirement, Harley was sounded out by the AFL's newest team, Greater Western Sydney Giants, to join the club in an off-field role. On 4 December 2009, it was announced that Harley would join the club as a project consultant, serving on committee board and the football department in a part-time role. Harley later also joined the Australian Institute of Sport-AFL Academy as an assistant coach and mentor. Prior to the 2010 AFL season, it was further announced that Harley would join the Channel 7 football commentary team, replacing Nathan Buckley in the leading special comments role. Harley admitted that his previous experience as a regular panellist on the football program One Week at a Time during his playing days had fuelled an interest in working within the media industry. He was the general manager of football at the Sydney Swans and before becoming CEO in 2019. ==Player profile==

During his playing career, Harley was considered as one of the league's "most respected players" Harley began his early career as a key position player at centre half back, where he used his physical size to great effect. However, during his later years he played as a floating defender capable of playing on small forwards. Despite his personal admission to not being "the greatest player", Harley's play-reading ability saw him recognised as one of the league's best at intercepting opposition passes inside his defensive 50metre arc. Harley's leadership skills have been consistently praised during his time in the league. Despite his reputation for not being the team's greatest player, he was widely regarded as a natural leader whose character "was the heartbeat of Geelong". Teammate Gary Ablett complimented Harley as being "very approachable ... [and] the key to gelling the team together". Many commentators have attributed his leadership influence as being a key factor in Geelong's premiership success. Specifically, he was credited with helping transform the culture of the club, in setting standards for on and off-field behaviour. Harley's legacy as captain of the club was pronounced by Bill McMaster as being one of the great leaders of Geelong alongside Reg Hickey and Fred Flanagan. ==Personal life==

Harley is the second of three children and has two brothers, one older, one younger. He is married to Sydney-based journalist Felicity Percival, whom he met while being interviewed for an article in Cosmopolitan. They have two sons. Harley was one of 21 players from the Geelong Football Club who witnessed the 2002 Bali bombings first-hand during an off-season holiday to the popular tourist destination. Harley and his teammates were preparing to venture to the Sari night club just moments prior to the terrorist attack. In 2008, Harley was named an ambassador for an anti-booze-fuelled violence campaign run by the Geelong Advertiser newspaper, titled "Just Think". As part of his ambassadorial role, Harley has appeared in numerous advertisements alongside fellow Geelong teammates and ambassadors James Kelly and David Wojcinski. He is an active health ambassador for Barwon Health. ==Statistics==

: ==Honours and achievements==

Team • AFL Premiership (Geelong): 2007 (C), 2009 (C) • McClelland Trophy (Geelong): 2007 (C), 2008 (C) • SANFL Reserves Premiership (Norwood): 1998 Individual • All-Australian: 2008 (VC) • AFLPA Best Captain Award: 2008 • Captain of Geelong F.C.: 2007–2009 • Geelong F.C. Best Clubman Award: 2002, 2006, 2008 • Geelong F.C. Coach's Award: 2001 • Geelong F.C. Most Determined and Most Dedicated Player Award: 2000 • Geelong F.C. Community Champion Award: 2008 • South Australian State of Origin representative honours: 2007, 2008 (Captain) • Legendary Performers Award: 2009 ==See also==