TOM HARLEY HANGS UP BOOTS
Ben Jensen 26 October 2009

By Ben Jensen GEELONG Skipper Geelong Tom Harley has officially called it quits from AFL football. Harley played 197 games for the club since joining from Port Adelaide in 1999, and skippered the club over their three most successful years in modern history, including the 2007 and 2009 Premierships. The key defender achieved All Australia selection in 2008 when he played all 25 games including the losing Grand Final.

Harley, 31, made his AFL debut in 1998 with the Power, his only appearance with the club, ironically against the Cats. Harley was then traded by the Power to Geelong for pick 37 (who Port used to draft Adam Morgan, who managed 17 games in his career). He soon established himself as a regular in the Geelong backline, himself and Matthew Scarlett one of the best backline pairings in the past decade. They both played their 100th games together in 2003. However he and Scarlett's careers took different paths from this season onwards, Harley often experiencing injuries that saw him play just 14 games in 2003, 13 in each of 2005 and 2006.

Despite this, after relieving Steven King of the captaincy in pre-season of 2007, the club too what turned out to be a visionary step of appointing Harley captain for 2007. His mettle was soon tested with the off-field troubles of Steve Johnson, which turned out to be a turning point for both Johnson and the club. Harley played the opening fixture, a loss against the Bulldogs, unfortunately suffering a finger injury that forced him to sit out the next eight games. He went on to play every game for the next two seasons, during which time he experienced just the three losses and won a Premiership. He experienced trouble with injury again in 2009, sitting out the first six games and missing another five. But along with Brad Ottens, Harley would return with success and help his side to a second flag in three seasons, the club's eight overall. Harley describes himself as Geelong through and through, and may take some time out of the game before rejoining the club in an off-field role. He married Felicity Percival two weeks after the Grand Final, and is believed to be relocating to Sydney for 2010.

LINKS Tom Harley career stats