Liked what Hartley brings to the team.
Reckon he is a lot more agile than people give him credit for. Doesn’t panic in close the way I have seen Hurley panic.
Also liked his running and physical defending on Tex.
Good game from this guy. Threatens to be a very important player and allows us to play Hooker forward.
I won’t be surprised to see him become a regular player in the side.
Strong vibe on the long sleeve away jumper. Should me mandatory.
I really don’t know why the coaches don’t plan more around his long kicking. (And also Fletch’s when he was playing, for that matter).This is a weapon that really could be exploited in this era of rugbyfied football.
Hartley looked extremely comfortable and unflustered against the Crows last night. Moves well for a very big lad too. Made the transition back to the seniors very easily. Well done, Mick!
Best I’ve seen him move- his mobility looks vastly improved this season including VFL. Kicking was good, played with intent- massive if he can grasp this chance and flourish as Ambrose did last year.
He’s a f*cking gun.
In the last quarter, Snelling was in the back pocket with nothing to kick to. He found Hartley with a 15 meter kick, to buy some time…
Hartley then switched the ball with a 60 meter kick on the chest of Redman, which opened up the game… and led to a Brown goal.
I’d be staggered if other clubs aren’t lining up for him.
Not only can he kick as far (or further if he’s allowed to kick the torp) as our other KP defenders, but he makes the decision more quickly, and usually hits his target. There have been some games at VFL level where he has gone at 100% efficiency. I think he contributed to our rebound out of defence in the second half.
lol. We’d probably all agree until Clarke’s game last week. If Clarke can back that effort up, he’ll have us all onside pretty quickly.
Post-match, I have seen some comments on Blitz along the lines of:
“…it was great that we were able to send Hooker forward early. Hartley did a pretty good job in his place…”
Now, I may need to re-watch the game, but at the time I had a slightly different perspective on events. Along the lines of:
“…Hooker was struggling a bit in defense this week. But then Hartley took over his role, and immediately won a turnover or two. Frankly he strengthened our defence and this was instrumental in turning the tide…”
Only had one contest where he fixated on his opponent and thus lost the path of the ball and the marking contest.
This is the key to him resurrecting his career at this level, does he do it in the VFL ?
Pros and Cons for Harley v Clarke.
Hartley Pros:
Fantastic Kick, tall, athletic, can mark the ball, versatility [Edit: Hartley’s girlfriend]
Hartley Cons:
Not attacking enough at AFL Level, can give away the odd free for holding.
Clarke Pros:
Is tall and can jump.
Clarke Cons:
Everything else
If we’re being serious here, surely Hartley’s girlfriend makes the list somewhere
This will come with confidence. He’s become a very attacking player, and has pushed his man further up the ground so he can influence the middle of the ground.
Once he has got used to the pace of the game, you’ll see him pin point more of those 60 meter kicks into the corridor.
If we don’t keep him, Harts would be best 22 for a lot of sides. He’ll be on an afl list either way next year.
Really hope we keep him.
He doesn’t even need to take those high-risk kicks to be damaging. Just on the switch, being able to kick a fast, flat 50-60m pass to the advantage of the target helps us move the ball a lot faster in transition. He also doesn’t second guess or hesitate as much as some others.
Can’t believe what a transition Hartley has made in a week, depth to gun.
He’s not elite. But he’s AFL standard. Say he’s the 30-40 rated KPD in the league, that still gets him a starting 22 spot in a lot of sides.
Not bad for a break glass player.
At worst he’s solid player in a good system.
Put him in a substandard system and, well, we’ve seen what he does in one of those.