Recruited from
Oak Park, as a youngster Harmes was perceived to have a lot of talent, finishing third in the 1976
Morrish Medal and winning
The Sun newspaper's "Sunkick" competition. He was a grandson of
Len Smith and the great nephew of
Norm Smith (whose namesake medal he would win in 1979). Harmes debuted in 1977 for the
Carlton Football Club, going on to play 169 games for 86 goals until his retirement, due to weight problems in his later career, in 1988. Throughout his career he was considered "hard at the ball" and whilst not tall (), he was able to outmark taller opponents. A solid and very well-built (90 kg) player, which allowed him to throw around his considerable strength and made him a tough player. He represented Victoria in
State of Origin in 1979 and 1986.
1979 VFL Grand Final Harmes' crowning achievement as a player was in the
1979 VFL Grand Final where he won the inaugural
Norm Smith Medal for best player on the ground during a Grand Final. The match itself became part of football folklore for the last-minute heroics displayed by Harmes – he slid along the ground and knocked the ball back into play to set up the winning goal, scored by
Ken Sheldon. A debate emerged whether the ball went
out of bounds or not at the point Harmes knocked it back in however new footage was found in 2023 that showed that Harmes did successfully keep the ball in. The match was the first of Harmes' three
premiership wins, with him being a part of Carlton's 1981 and 1982 flags. ==Statistics==