Brad Hardie has a stroke

[ledge]

https://thewest.com.au/sport/afl/football-great-brad-hardie-in-hospital-after-suspected-stroke-ng-b88707392z?utm_content=buffer86bc9&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Wish him a Speedy recovery had no idea he was living out this way

[Twodogs]

https://thewest.com.au/sport/afl/football-great-brad-hardie-in-hospital-after-suspected-stroke-ng-b88707392z?utm_content=buffer86bc9&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Wish him a Speedy recovery had no idea he was living out this way

Good luck to Brad. I hope his stroke wasn't a real bad one and they started his recovery in plenty of time

Sunshine is as good a place to be Hospital wise. I spent a lot of time there last year with dad and they did a great job.

[merantau]

All the best Brad. Full recovery for you.

[GVGjr]

An awful thing to happen to Hardie. I hope he has a speedy recovery

[bulldogtragic]

I hope he was right to turn up to the afel Hall of Fame and accept his induction.

Kudos BH.

[bornadog]

A big surprise, they must be getting desperate. There are many others I would have ahead of him.

[Twodogs]

A big surprise, they must be getting desperate. There are many others I would have ahead of him.

Yep.

Like. Kelvin. F$%#ing. Templeton.


Complaining about him not being in the HOF became a thing but now it's beyond a joke. One Brownlow, a one hundred goal season, two Colemans and his career was virtually over by the age of 23, then he keeps the Swans operating on the smell of an oily rag for 5 years as an administrator.

PUT HIM THE HOF IN OR IT'S JUST A JOKE!!!!!! For crying out loud he should be in the Legends section by now. It's great to see Hardie recognised but he wasn't even close to being half the player that Lindsay was.

[KT31]

A big surprise, they must be getting desperate. There are many others I would have ahead of him.

Agree BAD, although I had more than a chuckle with the irony he was being honoured the same night as Malthouse.

[bornadog]

Agree BAD, although I had more than a chuckle with the irony he was being honoured the same night as Malthouse.

When Mick was up on the stage, they panned the camera to Brad :D

How Nicky Winmar is not in the hall of fame, is beyond me.

[Axe Man]

Brad Hardie, Ken Hunter and Ron Evans inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame (https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/more-news/brad-hardie-ken-hunter-and-ron-evans-inducted-into-the-australian-football-hall-of-fame/news-story/09dd70416ab0c46220e62512be28bc44)

The breakdown of Brad Hardie’s relationship with Mick Malthouse is known for coming to a head during a famous game in 1986. However, the champion from the west is convinced it was another moment that kick started the feud.

The doctor didn’t mince his words: “You’re not going to play footy again.”

Brad Hardie had other ideas.

For six months he’d looked out over Fremantle Oval from his hospital ward, watching every training run and game.

It had cemented in his 15-year-old mind exactly what he wanted to do but there were a few hurdles to overcome.

Hardie was recovering from a horrible accident at a mate’s place where he ended up suffering burns to 45 per cent of his upper body. The doctor’s advice was that collision sports wouldn’t be appropriate.

With plenty of time to think, he came up with a plan.

A long-sleeve jumper would help cover the scarring on his arms but his hips, which had been affected in the accident, also needed protection.

Two tin plates from his father’s garage, some foam from a factory down the road and a roll of Elastoplast solved the problem.

So when Hardie arrived at South Fremantle the following pre-season he had his homemade protection plates strapped tightly to each hip.

After seven games in the U/19s he was elevated to the reserves and then selected in the WA Teal Cup side.

When he returned from the national carnival in Tasmania, South’s coach Mal Brown put him straight into the senior team in the back pocket.

Hardie played the last six games of the season but was left out of the Grand Final team — as was Mark ‘Jacko’ Jackson — which Souths lost to East Fremantle.

The next season he established himself as a rising star of the WAFL as South Fremantle won the premiership — which would turn out to be the only one of Hardie’s career.

In 1984 he won the Tassie Medal for the best player at the annual interstate carnival. By this time clubs from across the Nullarbor were circling.

Melbourne had visited, Richmond had sent him a signed Bruce Monteath jumper and encouraged him not to sign with anyone else while Geelong coach Tom Hafey had also been on the phone.

But it all amounted to nothing with the Tigers instead going for David Palm and Geelong signing South Australian Bruce Linder.

It wasn’t until Footscray’s general manager Shane O’Sullivan approached him after his starring role for WA that he was guaranteed a VFL career.

Hardie, 22, was best-on-ground in his first game for the Bulldogs against Carlton at Princes Park and the long-sleeved red head defender quickly became a fan favourite.

The club hadn’t played finals for nine years but with Mick Malthouse in his second year at the helm something clicked and they finished second at the end of the home and away season.

A 93-point flogging in the qualifying final against Hawthorn took the wind out of the sails but it was a different story when the teams met two weeks later in the preliminary final.

Even 34 years on, Hardie shakes his head when the game is brought up.

Only one point separated the teams at three-quarter time before Hawks legend Leigh Matthews — who was Hardie’s opponent — kicked two goals in the final term to get his team home.

“He got lucky,” Hardie says. “It’s funny how it has become this urban myth. No-one said anything on the day, no-one said anything the next year, it was never ever addressed but now all of a sudden it (the loss) was my fault.”

Two days later Hardie cemented his place in VFL/AFL history by becoming just the second player to win the Brownlow Medal in his first season (joining Haydn Bunton Snr).

Two votes in the final round against St Kilda saw him leapfrog Carlton ruckman Justin Madden to win by one vote.

Hardie says winning the game’s highest honour played a role in the deterioration of his relationship with Malthouse.

“We fell out after that because I don’t think he enjoyed the profile that I had got instantaneously off the back of that. And I just didn’t like his style as a coach.”

Things came to a head in the second last round of the 1986 season when Hardie was dragged by Malthouse and responded by taking off his jumper and waving it defiantly.

He knew then that his days at Footscray were numbered so he decided to follow O’Sullivan to Brisbane for the Bears’ inaugural season.

Hardie became the first player to play 100 games at the expansion team where he also kicked 192 goals in five seasons.

There was then a brief stopover at Collingwood — he played two games to take his AFL career tally to 150 — before heading home for one last season at Souths.

Fittingly this rollercoaster journey has now finally found its rightful finishing position in the AFL Hall of Fame.

“When you think about the career you’ve forged, this puts a stamp on it which is really nice.”

[mjp]

A big surprise, they must be getting desperate. There are many others I would have ahead of him.

Yeah, well. If we just take our VFL hats off for a second, he played league footy at 16, won a premiership at 17 (in those amazing SF teams also featuring Stephen Michael, Maurice Rioli, Benny Vigona and Basil Campbell), SHOULDA/COULDA/WOULDA won a Sandover, couple of Simpson Medals, couple of Tassie Medals...

Hardie should be in the HoF.

I get the arguments about Templeton (he should be in as well)...but arguing about other players has nothing to do with Hardie.

[Mofra]

Hardie played 140 WAFL games before he entered the VFL system, that's a hell of a lot of football at the highest level.

[westdog54]

Yeah, well. If we just take our VFL hats off for a second, he played league footy at 16, won a premiership at 17 (in those amazing SF teams also featuring Stephen Michael, Maurice Rioli, Benny Vigona and Basil Campbell), SHOULDA/COULDA/WOULDA won a Sandover, couple of Simpson Medals, couple of Tassie Medals...

Hardie should be in the HoF.

I get the arguments about Templeton (he should be in as well)...but arguing about other players has nothing to do with Hardie.

With due respect to the other posters I agree with MJP here. Its an Australian Football Hall of Fame and Hardie's WA accomplishments pair up with his VFL/AFL record rather nicely.

In saying that, Kelvin Templeton should absolutely be in there.

[Twodogs]

Yeah, well. If we just take our VFL hats off for a second, he played league footy at 16, won a premiership at 17 (in those amazing SF teams also featuring Stephen Michael, Maurice Rioli, Benny Vigona and Basil Campbell), SHOULDA/COULDA/WOULDA won a Sandover, couple of Simpson Medals, couple of Tassie Medals...

Hardie should be in the HoF.

I get the arguments about Templeton (he should be in as well)...but arguing about other players has nothing to do with Hardie.


I'm happy to leave Ron Evans out. If Templeton didn't have him covered as a player (and even as an administrator) then I will go he. Anyone can administrate a club like Essendon when the World and his dog wants to be associated. Try running the Sydney Swans when nobody wanted to know about them and even the AFL were openly ambivalent about their existence.

I remember watching Hardie play in a SOO game at the end of 1984 and telling my dad that we had signed the red headed guy that the ball seemed to follow around everywhere. Then when he played his first practice game out at VFL park in long sleeves on a stinking hot day and thinking "This guy must be planning to play in an army great coat by July" but the ball just kept following him around everywhere.

Our WA recruiting set up in the early to mid '80s must have known what they were doing. Williams, Hardie, Purser, Sewell, Rance, Daniels and John Georgiades were all good gets, not many misses there. We even bought a couple in via other V/AFL clubs like Buhagiar and Duperouzel.

[bornadog]

Our WA recruiting set up in the early to mid '80s must have known what they were doing. Williams, Hardie, Purser, Sewell, Rance, Daniels and John Georgiades were all good gets, not many misses there. We even bought a couple in via other V/AFL clubs like Buhagiar and Duperouzel.

Shane lives in my apartment building.

[Twodogs]

Shane lives in my apartment building.

He changed our club for the better. Much better. Take a timeline back to 1983 and check the change in our fortunes. Without Shane O'Sullivan I reckon we would have taken Fitzroy's spot on the chopping block.

[bornadog]

He changed our club for the better. Much better. Take a timeline back to 1983 and check the change in our fortunes. Without Shane O'Sullivan I reckon we would have taken Fitzroy's spot on the chopping block.

1985 remains as one of my all time favourite years (besides 2016)

Shane really did change the club at the time.

[KT31]

1985 remains as one of my all time favourite years (besides 2016)

Shane really did change the club at the time.

Totally agree bad, that year on the hill at the Western Oval was amazing.
It first time in our lives we went from easy-beats to genuine contenders, unfortunately like our history seems to dictate we faded out and couldn't back it up.

[Remi Moses]

Well done to Hardie on getting into the Hall of Fame
He played in Perth just after I came to Melbourne . Fair South Freo side he played in
Pity it ended badly with us and he had a few good years with the Bears as well .

[Axe Man]

Brad on the Front Bar tonight

[Twodogs]

Think I will watch it. Brad's a funny guy.

[Bulldog Revolution]

He seemed to enjoy holding court - and it was a great to see some old footage of him burning off Leigh Matthews in 1985

[bornadog]

He seemed to enjoy holding court - and it was a great to see some old footage of him burning off Leigh Matthews in 1985

A shame it ended the way it did as I enjoyed watching him in 1985.

Those that missed it and are interested:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v08iIKKVz84

Brad comes in around the 22min mark

[The Doctor]

Loved Brad Hardie. One of my all time favourites. Superstar.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Hardy was great in '85. He charged and danced his way out of defence constantly but played as a loose man, no defensive side. No doubt Malthouse and the club had issues with that. He should never have torn off the guernsey tha way he did, it showed his arrogance and contempt.

[Ozza]

Ordinary bloke. Front bar was hard to watch with him trying to be the comedian.