Fans are wild about Harry

A new craze is about to sweep Collingwood, as Michael Hogg reports, Buckley may have 250 games to his credit but the fans are going wild for young gun Harry O’Brien.

“I know I have got a bit of a chance but it is all a matter of waiting now to see what happens”

Prophetic words from a modest teenager.

These words from Heritier O’Brien were not a few weeks ago, they were one month out from the National Draft last year. Last weekend, he debuted at the MCG in Nathan Buckley’s 250th AFL match. How quickly things can change.

But O’Brien was not to take the usual path to AFL stardom that the majority of players take these days. His is a fantastic story.

‘Harry’ as he has become known, was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1986. His father Ralph was Victorian whilst his mother Elizabeth was Brazilian. By the age of three the family had packed up and moved to Australia and in particular to Bull Creek, a suburb in Perth’s south.

By the age of seven, O’Brien had taken up Australian Rules football, he joined the local side – Bull Creek-Leeming – which also produced the likes of Simon Black, Ben Cousins and Graham Polak and went about setting up a prosperous junior career.

After almost quitting football at 16, O’Brien decided to hang in there and leave East Fremantle’s zone to take up the chance of playing at Claremont after former Richmond and Fremantle player Ashley Prescott was named as coach there.

“I heard about Ash Prescott and went over to Claremont and have loved it ever since”

During the 2003 and 2004 seasons, O’Brien was selected in Western Australia’s under 18 National Championships squad. After being selected as vice-captain, O’Brien performed solidly during the carnival and returned back to the Claremont Colts team for the remainder of 2004.

After managing 16 games for the Claremont Colts under the tutelage of Matt Angus, O’Brien attended the state screening camp for likely draftees. Here Harry shone, being the fastest in the agility run and also winning the standing and running vertical leaps in a camp which also included Lance Franklin and Nathan Van Berlo.

Come draft day however, O’Brien was left without a footballing future. Both Franklin and Van Berlo were heading interstate for the ride of their lives, while Harry had no club.

Refusing to give up on the dream that he had worked so hard for, O’Brien wrote to Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse asking for a chance to do a pre-season with the Magpies and see if something could be made of it. Harry was that stubborn to hold onto his dream that he paid his own way over.

From Bull Creek to the Lexus Centre.

Harry was on his way.

O’Brien performed so well on the track that he was taken at number 20 in the NAB Rookie Draft. He had shown the desire that Malthouse wished to see and also had shown the skill to accompany it.

But Harry didn’t stop once he was placed on the rookie list. He wanted higher honours.

After being named as an emergency in Collingwood’s opening Wizard Cup match against Richmond, he had to bide his time playing for Williamstown’s reserves in the VFL.

But O’Brien didn’t quit as he watched fellow rookies David Fanning and Ben Davies being promoted to the senior team.

By round six, O’Brien was in Williamstown’s senior team and he lined up on Essendon’s Damian Cupido who had been dropped to Bendigo’s side. O’Brien won the battle hands down.

In following rounds he would come up against David Haynes from Geelong and Nick Holland from Hawthorn.

He would beat them both.

As the injuries and poor form set in at Collingwood, the chances started to open up for O’Brien. All he needed was a chance to be promoted.

“Being a rookie, you still don’t want someone to get injured and that is the only way you can get a game, so you just focus on playing good footy at Willy.”

However the chance did come. Cameron Cloke injured the same shoulder that finished his 2003 season and was placed on the injury list. Harry was on his way.

The round 16 match against St Kilda was the first after O’Brien had been promoted. Malthouse decided to go with Heath Shaw for his debut but O’Brien was an emergency already. It was later revealed it was out of Shaw or O’Brien as to who would debut.

After the St Kilda debacle, there was an obvious chance for O’Brien. All he had to do was play solidly for Williamstown and he would come under the attention of the match committee. The Seagulls defeated the top of the table Bendigo Bombers at Point Gellibrand on a cold Saturday afternoon and O’Brien was named in the best. His Williamstown coach Brad Gotch spoke glowingly of him after the game.

“Harry showed he has a lot to offer with his competitiveness, and when the ball hits the ground he was able to use his pace”

Come the following Thursday and Harry – or ‘Prince’ as his teammates call him – was named in Collingwood’s side for his senior debut. The rest as they say is history.

It’s not often that a player is a crowd favourite before he has played a game; somehow Harry O’Brien has managed this feat. Every time he went near the ball on Sunday the crowd roared. There were Brazilian scarves in the cheer squad and it is obvious that he plays with flair.

However over time O’Brien will show the crowd that he is not a one hit wonder, he can actually play the game. And he proved it as he managed another scalp on Sunday, premiership player Des Headland.

This week he will line up in the Collingwood defense as they take on the high flying Kangaroos. It doesn’t matter who he takes on, the result will be an exciting one. And the crowd will fall in love just that little bit more with Harry.

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