Harvey: seen it all, heard it too
BRENT Harvey has heard it all before – “too old”, “goal hungry” and even “sook”.
Even after 407 games, Harvey’s rivals still try to get inside his head.
Last Sunday, as the Kangaroo champion set about breaking his own 10-year clearance record to help his team earn a semi-final showdown against Sydney tomorrow night, it was a Richmond opponent’s turn to wind Harvey up.
“Shaun Grigg told me last week that I was selfish,” Harvey said. “And that I was taking up another young guy’s spot on the list. That was interesting, I thought. I keep those little things in the back of my mind.”
The week before, when Harvey, 37, came on as the substitute in the Round 23 dead rubber against Richmond, it was Taylor Hunt who taunted him.
But over 20 seasons, Harvey was adamant the verbal jousting and mind games only spurred him on.
“Absolutely, it does. I love that,” Harvey said. “I love the fact that he (Hunt) thought he could rough me up and get the better of me. He was getting stuck into me a little bit, but I’m a competitor.”
Last week Harvey finished with a game-high 31 possessions and seven clearances, the most he’s gathered in a decade.
More importantly, he was glad North Melbourne responded to the finals intensity, twice reeling in 20-point Richmond leads.
“You looked around at our players when Richmond ran out and you could see on their faces a few little smirks thinking, ‘This is good, this is big’,” he said.
“I knew they got out to a little bit of a lead, but it never felt like the game was done and dusted. There were a few tackles at the start of the third quarter when I thought, ‘Yep, we are on here’.”
Despite mid-season questions about his future, Harvey remains the Roos’ most devastating ball user and he wants to be part of making amends tomorrow night after having “our pants pulled down” by Sydney in last year’s preliminary final – a 71-point drubbing.
Harvey said the Roos were more mature now. “I’m sure (coach) Brad (Scott) will touch on it (last year’s loss), but they’re two completely different teams because we’ve got five or six different players and so have they,” he said.
“I believe we are a lot better team than what we were last year and we made a prelim, but in saying that it’s finals footy, it’s do or die.
“And they are a bloody good team.
“They have been for a long time and they will continue to be a bloody good team, so we have got a big job ahead of us.”
While Harvey again will be targeted by the Swans, he knows the Roos won’t rely on him alone.
“I probably put so much pressure on myself – especially early days and even two or three years ago, and even at some stages this year – that I need to perform for us to win,” he said.
“If we have 22 guys contributing, we will be a massive chance.”