John Harvey 1975 to 1984

Tuesday, 11 April 2006 05:00

A fiery prop forward who grew up at Allambie Heights, he played in Manlys premiership winning teams in 1976 and 1978. His no nonsense approach to the game saw Harvey become one of the most dominating forwards of the 1970s.

However Harvey proved to be a controversial figure during his career mainly due to his high elbow action when he made a shoulder charge and when he took the ball up to the defence. This resulted in a number of long suspensions but also he became one of the few players ever to pull out of a Kangaroo Tour
A fiery prop forward who grew up at Allambie Heights, he played in Manlys premiership winning teams in 1976 and 1978. His no nonsense approach to the game saw Harvey become one of the most dominating forwards of the 1970s.

However Harvey proved to be a controversial figure during his career mainly due to his high elbow action when he made a shoulder charge and when he took the ball up to the defence. This resulted in a number of long suspensions but also he became one of the few players ever to pull out of a Kangaroo Tour for personal reasons. He would only disclose his reasons for not making the 1978 tour to the then ARL chief Kevin Humphries. The reason remains a mystery to this day.

Despite being a Manly junior, Harvey had the habit of chasing the dollars and swapped between Manly and Eastern Suburbs a couple of times. His value was proven though after spending the 1977 at the tri colours he returned to Manly in 1978 and added the required starch to the pack that went on to win the premiership after a marathon semi finals series that involved 2 replays and a host of nail biting games.

He played 65 games for the Sea Eagles but also 61 games for the Roosters during his career. He played for the Sea Gulls in the Group 18 competition in 1983 but returned to Sydney in 1984 and played for the Sea Eagles for one last season.

He started off in third grade and made his way up to first grade by the seasons end. Although he had lost some of his pace and mobility his toughness and huge frame saw him part of a Manly side that struggled in 1984 after making 2 consecutive Grand Finals in 1982/83.

In 1984 in a match at Brookvale against 3 time defending premiers Parramatta, Harvey took on the Eels pack. In one of the biggest clashes of 2 men ever seen at the Fortress, Harvey took the brunt of a Paul Mares shoulder charge. The young Eels tyro underestimated the aging Harveys strength and came off 2nd best, being completely knocked out and carried off the field heavily concussed, much to the delight of the Manly fans who cheered loudly when Mares started staggering round on wobbly legs.

The Eagles went on to win the game by something like 20 to 0, which was in some part revenge for 2 Grand Final defeats at the hand of the Eels in the previous seasons.

At the end of 1984 Harvey returned to the Tweed and captain/coached the Sea Gulls, while finishing his career in Wee Waa in 1992. He eventually took over the coaching of the Gold Coast team in the ARL after Wally Lewis resigned in 1994 before being replaced by Phil Econimidis the following season.

John Harvey should have been called Elbows Harvey

Comments

Add New