Robert Harvey

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.

He was a vital player in St Kilda team that qualified for that year's final series and had the club's first finals' win since 1973.

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.

Currently, he ranks sixth 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.

Harvey played in the 1991 St Kilda team that qualified for the finals series for the first time since 1973.

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 St Kilda's 1992 award for the best and fairest player (now called the Trevor Barker Award) and was selected in the All-Australian team for the first time.

His younger brother, Anthony Harvey, played four games for St Kilda in 1994 before captaining Norwood to the 1997 SANFL premiership.

In 1994, he played his 100th premiership season match against North Melbourne in Round 2.

He also won his second St Kilda best and fairest award and was selected in the All-Australian team for a second time.

In 1995, he was again selected in the All-Australian team for a third selection.

Harvey played in St Kilda’s 1996 Ansett Australia Cup winning side, the club's first pre-season cup win.

He was also selected for the fourth time in the All-Australian Team.

He won consecutive Brownlow Medals, the league's highest individual honour, in 1997 and 1998.

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.

Harvey played in all 22 matches in the 1997 AFL regular season in which St Kilda qualified in first position for the finals series, winning the club’s second minor premiership and first McClelland Trophy.

St Kilda qualified for the 1997 AFL grand final after wins in the qualifying and preliminary finals.

Harvey played in the grand final in which St Kilda was defeated by 31 points.

Harvey gained 756 disposals in 1997 which, at the time, was the highest single-season tally on record—an average of 30 possessions per game.

He was recognised for his excellent season with numerous awards.

He again won St Kilda's best and fairest award and was also selected again in the 1997 All-Australian team—his fifth All-Australian honour.

He also won the 1997 AFL Players Association Most Valuable Player Award (now the Leigh Matthews Trophy) and the league's highest individual award, the Brownlow Medal.

Chris Grant gained the most votes; however, Grant was ineligible to win the award due to a one-match suspension for striking Hawthorn's Nick Holland.

Harvey played in the St Kilda side that again qualified for the 1998 finals series.

He played his 200th premiership season match that year against in round 21 at Waverley Park.

St Kilda was eliminated from the finals after two consecutive losses.

Harvey amassed 501 kicks in 1998 which, at the time, was the highest single-season tally on record.

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.

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.