Passionate about sport and the management of it – being part of a team that is engaged, aligned and working together towards a common goal. Thomas ‘Tom’ Harley is a former Australian rules footballer for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League. A defender at 1.93 metres and 95 kilograms, Harley was a two-time premiership-winning captain at the club.
During his playing career,…
Passionate about sport and the management of it – being part of a team that is engaged, aligned and working together towards a common goal. Thomas ‘Tom’ Harley is a former Australian rules footballer for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League. A defender at 1.93 metres and 95 kilograms, Harley was a two-time premiership-winning captain at the club.
During his playing career, Harley was considered as one of the league’s “most respected player and the “general of the most miserly defence in the league”. Harley began his early career as a key position player at centre half back, where he used his physical size to great effect. However, during his later years he played as a floating defender capable of playing on small forwards. Despite his personal admission to not being “the greatest player”, Harley’s play-reading ability saw him recognised as one of the league’s best at intercepting opposition passes inside his defensive 50m arc.[
He led with great dignity and a commitment to the common cause. He did not give Geelong its brilliance. Rather, his gift was to enable that brilliance to flourish on terms that were completely understood by every footballer in a blue-and-white hooped jumper.
Harley’s leadership skills have been consistently praised during his time in the league. Despite his reputation for not being the team’s greatest player, he was widely regarded as a natural leader whose character “was the heartbeat of Geelong”. Teammate Gary Ablett complimented Harley as being “very approachable … the key to gelling the team together”. Many commentators have attributed his leadership influence as being a key factor in Geelong’s premiership success. Specifically, he was credited with helping transform the culture of the club, in setting standards for on and off-field behaviour. Harley’s legacy as captain of the club was pronounced by Bill McMaster as being one of the great leaders of Geelong alongside Reg Hickey and Fred Flanagan.
He is noted for being a leading ambassador to various community campaigns, including the anti-violence program ‘Just Think’ and Barwon Health. Since his retirement as a player, Harley has undertaken various roles in the sporting industry: he held the position of “General Manager – Football” with the Sydney Swans, and became their CEO in 2019.
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