Sport
5 August, 2025
AFL legend Brent Harvey hopes to end Trentham’s 31-year premiership drought
The MCDFNL world was sent into astonishment when premiership contenders Trentham announced they had recruited AFL games record-holder Brent Harvey for the rest of the 2025 season.
The AFL Hall of Famer is one of the most recognisable and respected superstars of the modern era, a running highlight reel with a resume to boot, five-time North Melbourne Best and Fairest, four-time All-Australian, and 1999 AFL premiership player.
Now, at 47 years old, Harvey aims to help the Saints go one step further than 2024 and win the club’s first premiership since 1994.
With deep connections to lifelong families at the club, Harvey’s mid-season arrival has been an ongoing pipedream for the club.
Having known Mark Keogh and Craig Dovaston, who assist in Trentham’s football department, for decades, Harvey said their sons, star forward Jake Keogh and captain Joel Dovaston, have been hounding him for years to put on a Saints jumper.
“They have been asking me for years, as soon as I stopped playing AFL to come play one game with them, and I said yes, but to be honest, I wasn’t really too sold on it,” he said.
“I played local football with my brother at North Heidelberg, so I didn’t want to come up and play a one-off game and get injured.
“This is the first year that I have been fully out of football, and the questions at Christmas were still there.
“At Christmas, I said to Joel and Jake, if you train five days in a row with me, I will come up and play a game and I didn’t think I would get Jake out of bed every morning to do it.
“Jake got up every day and did it, so I thought at some stage I’ll definitely come up and play a game with them and it’s quickly turned into three and likely qualifying for finals.”
The introduction of Harvey has been a massive boost for a Trentham team looking to cement themselves amongst a dense list of elite contenders in the MCDFNL following their grand final loss last season.
Starting with their round 11 clash with Navarre, the Saints have dominated all comers with the former All-Australian on their side.
In the three games Harvey has played, Trentham has defeated the Grasshoppers, reigning premiers Natte Bealiba and Newstead last weekend by convincing margins, with Harvey starring in each game.
The North Melbourne legend wasted no time making an impact at Trentham Reserve on Saturday, kicking the first goal of the match with a beautiful left-foot snap before setting up the Saints’ next two majors with pinpoint passes to James Regan.
Harvey finished with four goals for the match as the Saints completed a commanding 144-point win over the Steaders.
While performance is still important to him, Harvey said his foremost priority is enjoying the game he loves while he can.
“I love giving back to country football and local football, that’s why I played local football with North Heidelberg for six or seven years before I broke my leg,” he said.
“When I played AFL footy, I was really, really strict on everything I did and what I wanted to achieve.
“Coming back here, there’s like a big weight off my shoulders.
“I’ve always said that while I can still run around and be fit, I’ll keep playing.
“That’s been good, and again with how different local football is, the cars parked around the fence, the horn toots after kicking a goal, they are just little things that you miss about country football.”
With the help of Harvey, Trentham is currently on a 14-game unbeaten streak and is on top of the MCDFNL ladder, looking to be one of the premiership favourites come September.
While availability has limited his contributions in the home and away season, Harvey is hopeful of playing a key role in ending the Saints’ premiership drought come finals.
However, after experiencing the standard of the MCDFNL, Harvey said the task won’t be easy.
“It’s very similar to local football back in Melbourne, to be honest, the standard is probably a little bit better than what I thought it would be,” he said.
“I do some radio stuff, so I’ve shifted some work around to make sure I’m available for at least a couple of finals games and hopefully it’s a grand final, but I’m sure the boys don’t want to look too far ahead.”