38 Facts About Tom Harley

Thomas Harley was born on 18 July 1978 and is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Port Adelaide Football Club and the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League.

Tom Harley quickly established himself within the Geelong defence and received a range of accolades and club honours, including multiple Best Clubman awards.

Tom Harley led the club to its first premiership in 44 years during 2007, and became a dual premiership captain after their victory in 2009.

Tom Harley was inducted into the Geelong Football Club Hall of Fame.

Tom Harley is noted for being a leading ambassador to various community campaigns, including the anti-violence program 'Just Think' and Barwon Health.

Tom Harley 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.

Tom Harley continued to ply his trade in the SANFL reserves during the 1998 season, before being rewarded mid-season with a senior team debut for Port Adelaide in round fourteen against Geelong.

However, after struggling to break into the senior side, Tom Harley was traded to Geelong during the off-season for the 37th pick in the 1998 AFL Draft.

Tom Harley made his debut for Geelong in round fourteen of the 1999 AFL season against Adelaide, and kept his position in the senior team for the final nine games of the home-and-away campaign.

Tom Harley made his finals debut in the First Elimination Final against Hawthorn, where he gathered 7 disposals and took 2 marks in the clubs' nine-point loss.

Tom Harley made his 50th senior appearance for the club the following season, and again featured in all 22 games over the next two seasons.

At the beginning of 2007, Tom Harley was appointed as club captain of Geelong.

The club noted that Tom Harley "was a player who would dig deep and stand up when it counts", and was chosen to help improve communication links between players, coaching staff and the board of directors.

Tom Harley endured a difficult start to his first season as captain, as he ruptured a finger tendon during the club's round one loss to the Western Bulldogs.

Tom Harley soon adjusted himself as a floating defender capable of playing on small forwards, and retained his position in the side after achieving career-best averages of 14 disposals and 5 marks a game.

Tom 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.

Tom Harley became the first Geelong captain of a premiership-winning side since Fred Wooller in 1963, and achieved the rare distinction of becoming a premiership-winning captain in his first year at the helm.

Tom Harley was awarded life membership of the Geelong Football Club following his 150th team appearance in the round sixteen win against the Western Bulldogs, and named in the end-of-season South Australian State of Origin team.

Tom Harley featured in all 22 home-and-away fixture games and 3 finals games.

Tom Harley set career-highs of 14 marks and 14 handpasses in the process, and helped the club achieve the number one defensive record during the season for the second consecutive year.

Tom Harley earned his first All-Australian honour and was named as vice-captain of the team.

Tom Harley was recognised by the AFLPA, as he was awarded the AFLPA Best Captain award in just his second season at the helm.

Tom Harley was awarded the Geelong Football Club Best Clubman award for a record third time, and named a co-winner of the club's Community Champion award alongside teammates James Kelly and David Wojcinski.

Tom Harley was charged with helping the players regroup following the Grand Final loss the previous season, and admitted "losing the grand final was horrific".

Tom Harley missed the first six rounds of the 2009 campaign with a knee injury, before returning to feature in fourteen games for the year.

Tom Harley cited his inability to physically meet the demands of AFL football as his reason for departing the game.

On 4 December 2009, it was announced that Tom Harley would join the club as a project consultant, serving on committee board and the football department in a part-time role.

Tom Harley later joined the AIS-AFL Academy as an assistant coach and mentor.

Tom 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.

Tom Harley was the general manager of football at the Sydney Swans and before becoming CEO in 2019.

Tom Harley began his early career as a key position player at centre half back, where he used his physical size to great effect.

Tom Harley led with great dignity and a commitment to the common cause.

Tom Harley is the second of three children and has two brothers, one older, one younger.

Tom Harley is married to Sydney-based journalist Felicity Harley, whom he met while being interviewed for an article in Cosmopolitan.

Tom 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.

In 2008, Tom Harley was named an ambassador for an anti-booze-fuelled violence campaign run by the Geelong Advertiser newspaper, titled "Just Think".

Tom Harley is an active health ambassador for Barwon Health.

Tom Harley was selected as one of 24 leaders in Australian sport to discuss and develop a national response at Parliament House, Canberra, for emerging challenges impacting sport and the broader community.