Robert Jeffrey Harvey (born 21 August 1971) is an Australian rules football coach and former player. He is currently an assistant coach for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). As a player, he played his entire career with St Kilda in the AFL. Following retirement, Harvey embarked on a career in assistant coaching which has spanned across three decades, highlighted by a nine-game stint as caretaker head coach of the Collingwood Football Club in 2021.

Harvey was recognised as one of the top 50 players of all time in The Australian Game of Football, a book commissioned by the AFL in 2008 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Australian rules football. The list was compiled by Herald Sun journalist Mike Sheahan. Harvey was known for his running ability and considered one of the best short passes of 15 to 30 metres in the history of the game. He holds St Kilda's record for most career games. At his retirement, at the end of the 2008 AFL season, Harvey had played the third-highest total career games in league history, with 383 games. Currently, he ranks seventh in games played; Harvey was also the final active player from the VFL era of the league (pre-1990) to retire.

Harvey won numerous individual awards and medals during his playing career. He won consecutive Brownlow Medals, the league's highest individual honour, in 1997 and 1998. He won St Kilda's best and fairest award—now called the Trevor Barker Award—in 1992, 1994, 1997 and 1998. He was selected in the All-Australian team eight times, with his first All-Australian award being in 1992 and his last in 2003. He won three E. J. Whitten Medals, awarded to the player judged best player on the ground for Victoria in State of Origin matches; the 1997 AFL Players Association Most Valuable Player Award (now known as the Leigh Matthews Trophy); and the Michael Tuck Medal for player judged best on ground in the 2004 pre-season cup final. In 2012, Harvey was inducted in the Australian Football Hall of Fame. On 24 September 2013, Harvey was named the AFL's Assistant Coach of the Year at the AFL Coaches Association awards presentation.

Harvey is the grandson of former Australian test cricketer Merv Harvey and grandnephew of Neil Harvey, who was Australia's leading run-scorer and century-maker behind Don Bradman. His younger brother, Anthony Harvey, played four games for St Kilda in 1994 before captaining Norwood to the 1997 SANFL premiership.

Playing career

St Kilda

Early career: 1988–1993

Harvey was recruited from St Kilda's then-VCFL zone Seaford and played his first senior game for St Kilda against Footscray at the Western Oval in round 19, 1988. Harvey played in the 1991 St Kilda team that qualified for the finals series for the first time since 1973. At the time of his retirement he held the record for most games played without winning a premiership, but he did participate in 17 finals series matches, including one grand final. He was the last remaining VFL/AFL player left who had played in the 1980s. In 1993, he participated in the State of Origin Carnival, performing on the big stage in the Grand Final, again winning the E. J. Whitten Medal. He was selected in 1995 against South Australia. In 1996, he won the E. J. Whitten Medal for a record third time, against The Allies, kicking one goal. Today, Harvey is still a big supporter of the Victorian State of Origin team.

Statistics

Playing statistics

|- style=background:#EAEAEA

| 1988 || || 52

| 4 || 3 || 5 || 41 || 15 || 56 || 7 || 3 || 0.8 || 1.3 || 10.3 || 3.8 || 14.0 || 1.8 || 0.8 || 0

|-

| 1989 || || 35

| 12 || 13 || 9 || 136 || 121 || 257 || 42 || 11 || 1.1 || 0.8 || 11.3 || 10.1 || 21.4 || 3.5 || 0.9 || 4

|- style=background:#EAEAEA

| 1990 || || 35

| 18 || 13 || 17 || 250 || 193 || 443 || 46 || 15 || 0.7 || 0.9 || 13.9 || 10.7 || 24.6 || 2.6 || 0.8 || 4

|-

| 1991 || || 35

| 23 || 16 || 16 || 311 || 294 || 605 || 66 || 24 || 0.7 || 0.7 || 13.5 || 12.8 || 26.3 || 2.9 || 1.0 || 9

|- style=background:#EAEAEA

| 1992 || || 35

| 24 || 9 || 6 || 401 || 288 || 689 || 92 || 26 || 0.4 || 0.3 || 16.7 || 12.0 || 28.7 || 3.8 || 1.1 || 12

|-

| 1993 || || 35

| 17 || 8 || 10 || 265 || 169 || 434 || 58 || 29 || 0.5 || 0.6 || 15.6 || 9.9 || 25.5 || 3.4 || 1.7 || 12

|- style=background:#EAEAEA

| 1994 || || 35

| 18 || 6 || 6 || 262 || 212 || 474 || 42 || 30 || 0.3 || 0.3 || 14.6 || 11.8 || 26.3 || 2.3 || 1.7 || 2

|-

| 1995 || || 35

| 17 || 10 || 8 || 234 || 217 || 451 || 47 || 22 || 0.6 || 0.5 || 13.8 || 12.8 || 26.5 || 2.8 || 1.3 || 16

|- style=background:#EAEAEA

| 1996 || || 35

| 21 || 12 || 12 || 301 || bgcolor=CAE1FF | 296<sup>†</sup> || bgcolor=CAE1FF | 597<sup>†</sup> || 70 || 26 || 0.6 || 0.6 || 14.3 || 14.1 || bgcolor=CAE1FF | 28.4<sup>†</sup> || 3.3 || 1.2 || 17

|-

| 1997 || || 35

| 25 || 18 || 19 || 453 || bgcolor=CAE1FF | 303<sup>†</sup> || bgcolor=CAE1FF | 756<sup>†</sup> || 90 || 28 || 0.7 || 0.8 || 18.1 || 12.1 || bgcolor=CAE1FF | 30.2<sup>†</sup> || 3.6 || 1.1 || bgcolor=98FB98 | 26<sup>±</sup>

|- style=background:#EAEAEA

| 1998 || || 35

| 24 || 13 || 14 || bgcolor=CAE1FF | 501<sup>†</sup> || 234 || bgcolor=CAE1FF | 735<sup>†</sup> || 74 || 36 || 0.5 || 0.6 || 20.9 || 9.8 || bgcolor=CAE1FF | 30.6<sup>†</sup> || 3.1 || 1.5 || bgcolor=98FB98 | 32<sup>±</sup>

|-

| 1999 || || 35

| 17 || 10 || 11 || 299 || 187 || 486 || 59 || 16 || 0.6 || 0.6 || 17.6 || 11.0 || 28.6 || 3.5 || 0.9 || 11

|- style=background:#EAEAEA

| 2000 || || 35

| 16 || 5 || 7 || 246 || 193 || 439 || 73 || 20 || 0.3 || 0.4 || 15.4 || 12.1 || 27.4 || 4.6 || 1.3 || 5

|-

| 2001 || || 35

| 9 || 9 || 11 || 135 || 85 || 220 || 36 || 20 || 1.0 || 1.2 || 15.0 || 9.4 || 24.4 || 4.0 || 2.2 || 7

|- style=background:#EAEAEA

| 2002 || || 35

| 10 || 4 || 4 || 122 || 72 || 194 || 28 || 14 || 0.4 || 0.4 || 12.2 || 7.2 || 19.4 || 2.8 || 1.4 || 7

|-

| 2003 || || 35

| 22 || 12 || 11 || 361 || 219 || 580 || 114 || 59 || 0.5 || 0.5 || 16.4 || 10.0 || 26.4 || 5.2 || 2.7 || 18

|- style=background:#EAEAEA

| 2004 || || 35

| 23 || 11 || 8 || 301 || 197 || 498 || 100 || 38 || 0.5 || 0.3 || 13.1 || 8.6 || 21.7 || 4.3 || 1.7 || 4

|-

| 2005 || || 35

| 17 || 14 || 6 || 208 || 159 || 367 || 90 || 39 || 0.8 || 0.4 || 12.2 || 9.4 || 21.6 || 5.3 || 2.3 || 7

|- style=background:#EAEAEA

| 2006 || || 35

| 23 || 18 || 13 || 299 || 177 || 476 || 146 || 73 || 0.8 || 0.6 || 13.0 || 7.7 || 20.7 || 6.3 || 3.2 || 12

|-

| 2007 || || 35

| 19 || 4 || 3 || 231 || 161 || 392 || 105 || 36 || 0.2 || 0.2 || 12.2 || 8.5 || 20.6 || 5.5 || 1.9 || 7

|- style=background:#EAEAEA

| 2008 || || 35

| 24 || 7 || 4 || 291 || 216 || 507 || 129 || 40 || 0.3 || 0.2 || 12.1 || 9.0 || 21.1 || 5.4 || 1.7 || 3

|- class="sortbottom"

! colspan=3| Career

! 383 !! 215 !! 200 !! 5648 !! 4008 !! 9656 !! 1514 !! 605 !! 0.6 !! 0.5 !! 14.7 !! 10.5 !! 25.2 !! 4.0 !! 1.6 !! 215

|}

Coaching statistics

|- style=background:#EAEAEA

| 2021 ||

| 9 || 2 || 7 || 0 || 22.2% || || 18

|- class="sortbottom"

! colspan=2| Career totals

! 9 !! 2 !! 7 !! 0 !! 22.2%

! colspan=2|

|}

Notes

Honours and achievements

Playing

Team

  • Minor premiership (): 1997
  • 3× Pre-Season premiership player (): 1996, 2004, 2008

Individual

  • 2× Brownlow Medal: 1997, 1998
  • Leigh Matthews Trophy (AFLPA MVP Award): 1997
  • 8× All-Australian team: 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003
  • 4× Trevor Barker Award: 1992, 1994, 1997, 1998
  • Australian Football Media Association Player of the Year Award: 1997
  • Herald Sun Player of the Year Award: 1997
  • Michael Tuck Medal: 2004
  • Madden Medal: 2008
  • Team of the Century

Coaching

Individual

  • AFLCA assistant coach of the year: 2013

Halls of fame

  • Australian Football Hall of Fame inductee
  • Hall of Fame inductee – Legend status

Coaching career

Carlton Football Club assistant coach (2009–2010)

On 10 October 2008, it was announced that Harvey was appointed in an assistant coaching position as a development and fitness coach at the Carlton Football Club from 2009.

St Kilda Football Club assistant coach (2011)

It was formally announced by the Carlton and St Kilda football clubs, on 13 September 2010, that Harvey had accepted an offer to return to St Kilda as an assistant coach beginning with the 2011 pre-season, in the position of St Kilda midfield coach under senior coach Ross Lyon. Following Ross Lyon's departure from the Saints in mid-September 2011, Harvey assumed the role as caretaker senior coach while the search for a new senior coach commenced at St Kilda. On being overlooked for St Kilda's senior coaching role in favour of Scott Watters, Harvey was released from his assistant coaching obligations with St Kilda.

Collingwood Football Club assistant coach (2012–2021)

Harvey joined the Collingwood Football Club in October 2011 in an assistant coaching role as midfield coach under senior coach Nathan Buckley and was promoted to senior assistant coach during 2013. Harvey coached Collingwood to a total of nine games with two wins and seven losses, and then Collingwood finished in seventeenth place (second-last) position on the ladder in the 2021 season. Harvey then left the club at the end of the 2021 season, after he came to a mutual agreement with the club that a change was needed for both parties in the decision that Harvey would not be retained as Collingwood Football Club senior coach. Harvey described the discussions as "pretty transparent" and that he left "on good terms". Harvey was replaced by Craig McRae as Collingwood Football Club senior coach.

Hawthorn Football Club assistant coach (2022)

On 22 September 2021, it was announced that Harvey would join as an assistant coach under senior coach Sam Mitchell.

St Kilda Football Club assistant coach (2023–present)

Following the appointment of Ross Lyon as senior coach of St Kilda, when Lyon returned in his second stint as Saints senior coach, it was announced in October 2022 that Harvey would be returning to St Kilda as an assistant coach under senior coach Ross Lyon.

Personal life

Harvey is married to Danielle Harvey. Danielle appeared on Fox Footy's Living With Footballers before it was cancelled at the end of 2004. They have four children: son Connor and daughters Remi, Alyssa and Sienna.

References

See also

  • Harvey family