Welcome With Pick 24 Geelong Football Club Selects Harley Barker

[Jeff76]

Kid can roost the ball by the looks of things too

 

[JackFlash]

Good luck to the kid, i wouldn't worry too much about the ACL injury. Maybe history will repeat itself knowing the Cats picked Joel Selwood in the 2006 draft after being told he may never play again after his knee injury. That was 19 years ago, they can do incredible things with these types of injuries today. They will give him all the benefits of their medical facilities down there and a year learning the ropes from the coaches! Bruhn is like a new recruit and they have now got a 148 game 26 yr old in James Worpel

5

James Worpel

Age

26

Ht

186cm

Wt

86kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

23.5

5star

K

12.2

5star

HB

11.3

5star

M

2.9

3star

T

4.5

5star

CL

5.1

5star

No current season stats available

D

15.6

4star

K

6.2

3star

HB

9.4

5star

M

1.0

1star

T

3.2

5star

CL

1.8

4star

. Barker will be given every opportunity.

 

[Warhorse]

I like this pick a lot. I think he can be developed into a very good midfielder

 

[Heckler]

The highlights don’t show it but he is blistering quick. He took out a 2.86s 20m sprint early this year, which currently sits him second fastest player in this entire draft crop.

Why Barker?
Cats saw the importance of players that can run all day
Not simply as outside link players that run and carry
Players that run deep forward and back into defence
Guys that proved an extra defender and goal kicker
ie:- Blitz, Smith, Holmes, Dempsey... Barker
Highlights showed Barker mostly as Outside wingman
Taking uncontested possession with good decisions, disposal
2.86s 20m sprint is elite AFL standard... awesome info.
Barker is also solidly built can take a mark, thumping kick.
Future potential more like another Holmes than Dempsey.

All Cats need is for Neale to step up as a marking target.

 

[The Unforgiven]

Hopefully that means next year we are drafting kids who grew up supporting Geelong, 9 months after their parents celebrated 119

I guess we'll be drafting the children of a hell of a lot of Crows supporters as well, then.

 

[#6 Thorp #7 Selwood LOL]

I heard they named the mountain after him.

 

[supahoops]

My son played with Harley at Sturt.

You get a player that has Kobe Bryant mentality, the kid works hard and plays hard.

Best not chopper him in ala Brian Peake. And keep away from our AFLW..

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

Savvy selection, IMO. Would have been a top 12 pick if he hadn't torn his ACL. He'll recover from that and be given an opportunity to develop in the twos before we see him play in the AFL side. Looking at his highlights, he'll be a good player when he gets fit again. Geelong already has a settled, solid side, so they can afford to pick a guy like this and bring him on slowly. Unlike teams like WCE, Richmond, Essendon, and so on, who need top-end talent to try to lift them off the bottom of the ladder, so they need guys who can perform straight away. So they would never pick a project player like Harley.

Welcome to Geelong, Harley. I hope you have a great career as a footballer.

 

[The Rhys Factor]

Fantastic pick. I had him rated at 10th overall. So a bargain in that sense. He will be a 200 game player. Will be midfield eventually. Has Al the rolls to be a ripper.

 

[Pollywaffle]

He looks a bare chromosome away from being the ranga we needed to fill a big gap in the team

 

[RedmanWasHere]

He looks a bare chromosome away from being the ranga we needed to fill a big gap in the team

You guys have a bunch of straight hair blondes.

Must be time for someone with curls and frizz.

 

[Commando]

Drafting players born in 2007 now

Yeah first think I noticed too!

 

[Frank Bunn]

Flippin heck boys. His knee!

 

[Grimoz]

He looks a bare chromosome away from being the ranga we needed to fill a big gap in the team

More like Zac Dawson 2.0

 

[Turkey Tom]

Flippin heck boys. His knee!

That was my first thought too!

 

[lionbear]

Well done, got a top 10 pick only available because of injury.

Was never playing in 2026 anyway.

Be a great add in 2027

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Flippin heck boys. His knee!

Would be the most geelong thing ever if our highly rated 1st round draftee did the acl again getting tackled by mates here.

 

[year of the cat]

Would be the most geelong thing ever if our highly rated 1st round draftee did the acl again getting tackled by mates here.

There should be a 3 min cooling off period on selections in case this happens…

 

[The Unforgiven]

I heard they named the mountain after him.

It's not much of a mountain. More like a hill. Barely a flex. Great town, though. I lived there for many years.

 

[dudusmaximus]

You guys have a bunch of straight hair blondes.

Must be time for someone with curls and frizz.

The hairband fits. Our mantra is "if the hairband doesn't fit, you must reject".

 

[fpm84]

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

It's not much of a mountain. More like a hill. Barely a flex. Great town, though. I lived there for many years.

View attachment 2481548

Looks like the same view one gets from Mount Buninyong near Ballarat.

 

[Gazza Greatness]

View attachment 2481595

ACL gang..... let's do it (thanks so much Bailey for writing this post/attachment, you're a Geelong man thru & thru now)

So much 'over the top BS' written about Bailey Smith and I simply love how our coach Chris Scott says as much and supports him to the tilt. Sure he's young and still got a bit of growing up to do but what young kid/man doesn't. What I love about Bailey is that when the going gets tough, he gets going and is prepared to do the the hard yards (re: doing his own ACL) but also at the same time have your back of which he has displayed numerous times since he's joined the Cattery, he's 100% legit in true Aussie style.

And the best example of this is Bailey's overall footy performance this year including his elite two-way gut running after coming off doing his own ACL of which was nothing short of remarkable and virtually surprised every footy pundit out there with his outstanding 2025 season. And I cannot think of a better role model or guy to lean-on than having Bailey Smith supporting and encouraging you of which thru the above post/attachment he has done for Harley Barker while in rehab after doing his ACL. With the above post/attachment from Bailey Smith in regards to our new 'exciting recruit' Harley Barker, it must give Harley a tremendous amount of encouragement and inspiration knowing it's coming directly from Bailey Smith himself, I know if I was Harley I'd be stoked with what Bailey has done but also knowing the support he will receive when he arrives at Catland while in rehab.

Love the Harley Barker selection and to be sure is a long term 200+ gamer prospect with heaps of class, skill, excellent footy IQ, sensational and prodigious kick with pace to burn along with being creative and taking the game and opposition players on with a solid body to boot. What a great selection by Wellsy and Mackie as the dynamic duo strike again.... and GO CATS !!!

 

[patience]

You guys have a bunch of straight hair blondes.

Must be time for someone with curls and frizz.

My first thought was Be easy to pick him out with his n the ground

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

Harley did say on Fox Footy that he expected to be back running in the next few weeks, so he is well progressed through his rehab and recovery at this stage (IIRC, the initial injury happened some months ago now). Whether that was just football player hubris, time will tell, but he's in good hands with our doctors and physios taking over the next phase of his rehab. I expect we will see him playing managed minutes in the VFL in the second half of next year's season.