I had a massive soft spot for Harmes, although he was often referred to in the condemnation of faint praise "a hard working battler who got the most out of himself". His peak only lasted about 3 years but he was a whole lot better than a hard working battler during his peak. Loved him. I was gutted when he moved on but understood why.

Another "personal story". The best game in the world at elite level is gathering a horrendous resume of ruined lives. I have absolutely no idea what his circumstances are, but I hope he heals, recovers, and finds peace and purpose. One day I would love him to walk back in the MFC where he will be welcomed and celebrated.

fair to say i think he was a fan's favourite

4 hours ago, Demonsone said:

Very sad demise…. To see our premiership heroes depart still young, what occurred after the 21 flag to our list is a reflection of how poor our footy dept managed player issues, people can read what they want into this, but Hope he gets the help he needs… thanks for that kick to Fritsch that started the come back, will always be a premiership hero

He's had over two years at another club so why are you blaming our football department?!

Good luck Harmsey. One of my favourites. Wore his heart on his sleeve and always gave 100%. Hope life after football treats you well ❤️💙

Strange, only 30 and one year left on the contract. Didn't report to pre season, hope he's ok.

2 hours ago, hardtack said:

A premiership player at the club he supported as a kid growing up…every kid’s dream! They can NEVER take that away from him.

Not just every kid, but also every adult, too. In fact, even though I'm in my 60s I'm still just as likely to get a game now as I was as an 18-year-old.

I always thought Harmes was a limited player with average skills which he made up for with unparalleled effort. I would have picked him every week on that alone.

Edited February 10Feb 10 by La Dee-vina Comedia

2 hours ago, hardtack said:

A premiership player at the club he supported as a kid growing up…every kid’s dream! They can NEVER take that away from him.

exactly this, never wanted him to leave would have loved for him to have been a one clubman, was an excellent teammate and showed up week in week out good onya harmsey

6 hours ago, Demonland said:

He did alright in that game, didn't he.

Best wishes, James.

Really loved him as a player and he always looked like a top bloke, too.

Mentioned earlier in the thread but two kicks I'll remember forever.

• Vs West Coast at Optus in 2018 to Dean Kent who went on to kick the goal to seal the win and break our 12 year final drought. A massive step on our journey to the flag.

• Duhh, Grand Final against the Dogs from pretty much the same spot to Fritsch and the rest was history.

50 minutes ago, layzie said:

Vs West Coast at Optus in 2018 to Dean Kent who went on to kick the goal to seal the win and break our 12 year final drought. A massive step on our journey to the flag.

I'm glad you bought that one up as it's one that has stuck in my memories as well.

I also reject that Harmes was a player of limited skill. For a side that many have bemoaned for not delivering well into the forward line, Harmesy was one who was capable of lowering the eyes and hitting a target in a good position inside 50 to advantage. There are those two classic instances that he did it in big moments of big games, but he also did it on many other occasions as well, so it was no fluke - the guy had skills. He was also a strong mark overhead and generally a good kick for goal as well.

If anything, perhaps he lacked just a little in consistently being able to perform such feats and play to the same high standards every game that perhaps kept him to being an honest gritty player, compared to an outright elite. I'd always hoped he'd have a season where he made that step, but it was never to be, but I still thought he made a fantastic and very worthy contribution to our premiership and no one can ever take that away from him - as others have said, he lived out the dream of every Melbourne supporter in achieving that.

I thought this was super classy from the Bulldogs social media team.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Bf3HYHvgx/

But gee it must have also put a bit of a dagger in the hearts of their supporters bringing back memories of that 2021 premership for them.

13 hours ago, Go Ds said:

He's had over two years at another club so why are you blaming our football department?!

Connect the dots of events since the premiership with certain players & why our Norm Smith left..

25 minutes ago, Demonsone said:

Connect the dots of events since the premiership with certain players & why our Norm Smith left..

Some one will write a book one day Demonsone and connect all the dots but not in my lifetime. I’m still waiting for the Eagles story following the 2006 Premiership.

Hope his personal situation is ok. Must be pretty dire to retire from footy with a contract

All the best James. Thanks for the 100% you always gave us

9 hours ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

I'm glad you bought that one up as it's one that has stuck in my memories as well.

I also reject that Harmes was a player of limited skill. For a side that many have bemoaned for not delivering well into the forward line, Harmesy was one who was capable of lowering the eyes and hitting a target in a good position inside 50 to advantage. There are those two classic instances that he did it in big moments of big games, but he also did it on many other occasions as well, so it was no fluke - the guy had skills. He was also a strong mark overhead and generally a good kick for goal as well.

If anything, perhaps he lacked just a little in consistently being able to perform such feats and play to the same high standards every game that perhaps kept him to being an honest gritty player, compared to an outright elite. I'd always hoped he'd have a season where he made that step, but it was never to be, but I still thought he made a fantastic and very worthy contribution to our premiership and no one can ever take that away from him - as others have said, he lived out the dream of every Melbourne supporter in achieving that.

Totally agree Balls. He had a nice low trajectory 20 - 30 metre drop punt into the 50 on many occasions. I think Neal-Bullen fell into this category as well despite the knock on his overall use.

Now people have got me wondering, did Harmes have relatively modest skills, or did he have good skills that were tested by the fact he was constantly [censored] from working so hard both ways?

All we know for sure is that he always worked hard and that in some absolutely crucial moments his skills were right on the spot.

Will always be a little bit special.

I liken James Harmes' clever gather and lace-out to Fritsch a bit like the end of the '64 grand final, which had become a rolling maul by the last quarter, when Barry Bourke got on the end of some quick hands by Townsend and Barassi. The ball then went coast to coast, and although Hassa missed the sitter, the ball would rebound to Crompton and the rest was history.

44 minutes ago, Little Goffy said:

Now people have got me wondering, did Harmes have relatively modest skills, or did he have good skills that were tested by the fact he was constantly [censored] from working so hard both ways?

All we know for sure is that he always worked hard and that in some absolutely crucial moments his skills were right on the spot.

Will always be a little bit special.

Good skills and workrate

His consistency and concentration/awareness let him down.

4 minutes ago, Little Goffy said:

Now people have got me wondering, did Harmes have relatively modest skills, or did he have good skills that were tested by the fact he was constantly [censored] from working so hard both ways?

My view, as a huge fan of his, was that he had modest disposal skills but at his best was underrated above his head and had a knack for using his speed and power to really good effect, especially in attack. He was also courageous. Much more discriminating footy watchers than me said when he became a centre bounce midfielder he was selfless and excellent at creating space for Petracca and Oliver.

When his form began to slip, he looked like he was never running on top of the ground to me. The burst speed was gone. And that would have exacerbated his just-OK skills - without space he looked panicked. I remember watching him in the VFL, hoping he'd play well enough to get back in the team, and he'd get a lot of footy and do not much with it.

I don't discount your impression, at all, though. I wonder sometimes whether disposal is as much about what happens before the kick or handball (not just decision making, but so much else) as it is about the technical elements that go into the actual disposal. I think a player can be both technically suspect and a reasonable or even good user of the footy.

5 hours ago, Demonsone said:

Connect the dots of events since the premiership with certain players & why our Norm Smith left..

Huh? So the Bulldogs incompetently picked a damaged player then?

1 minute ago, Go Ds said:

Huh? So the Bulldogs incompetently picked a damaged player then?

Very good sources, but 1st & foremost hope Harmes is ok moving forward

36 minutes ago, Demonsone said:

Very good sources, but 1st & foremost hope Harmes is ok moving forward

So a lot of our players went from winning a flag to damaged?

15 hours ago, layzie said:

Mentioned earlier in the thread but two kicks I'll remember forever.

• Vs West Coast at Optus in 2018 to Dean Kent who went on to kick the goal to seal the win and break our 12 year final drought. A massive step on our journey to the flag.

• Duhh, Grand Final against the Dogs from pretty much the same spot to Fritsch and the rest was history.

There's a third kick which everyone has forgotten - to Jack Watts in the dying moments of Queen's Birthday 2017.

Edited February 11Feb 11 by Grapeviney

5 hours ago, The Taciturn Demon said:

I don't discount your impression, at all, though. I wonder sometimes whether disposal is as much about what happens before the kick or handball (not just decision making, but so much else) as it is about the technical elements that go into the actual disposal. I think a player can be both technically suspect and a reasonable or even good user of the footy.

I think this is a really good point. Players like James Hird, Dustin Martin and Scott Pendlebury seem to have already worked out what they're going to do with the ball before they've got it.