Get a Player's View - Ask Harts

Adam Hartlett will answer (genuine) questions about football from a player's perspective for TFSA.

Ask away and we'll see what happens

gday Harts:

toughest opponent no longer in sanfl (dont want you giving current opponents ammo)

best sledge youve heard on the field

G'Day Harts...

Who is the better model -  yourself or Andrew Hayes?

Cheers,

BP

Are you the most tatooed player at Richmond, since Adam Richardson?

The Hatchet wrote:gday Harts:

toughest opponent no longer in sanfl (dont want you giving current opponents ammo)

best sledge youve heard on the field

Sorry, I realized I've missed the first part to your question. Toughest SANFL player I've played on would be Brant Chambers. Followed by Alleway.

I don't have a particular sledge in mind, but I remember my first couple of games against the Gowans lads after returning from Melbourne. They had done their homework pretty well and identified that I tend to have a short fuse on occasions  Every opportunity they had they'd get into me about either my tattoos, my hair, my ability, you name it! All part of the game though and after the final siren it means nothing.

The best call I've heard come from a spectator happened down at Prospect and was directed at one of my good mates, Brad Fisher. it was his first game for the Bloods. Unfortunately Brad was left stranded on 99 games after 10 seasons at Carlton, and as we walked down to the forward line together a spectator yelled out "Congratulations on your 100th game Brad." I found it very amusing and it even brought a smile to Brad's face.

Finally, the best call I'd heard on a footy field came from Brendan Fevola, against the Bulldogs back in 08. He was standing Brian Lake at the time and had kicked a goal or two early. When one of the Bulldogs trainers ran out to give Lake a drink, Fev told the trainer how lucky he was that he had the best seats in the house for 'The Fev Show'. He ended up kicking 7 or 8 for the night.

Big Phil wrote:G'Day Harts...

Who is the better model -  yourself or Andrew Hayes?

Cheers,

BP

HA!

Think Hayesy has me covered!! #prettyboy

Big Phil wrote:Are you the most tatooed player at Richmond, since Adam Richardson

I saw Richo in the change rooms after a rare Bloods win last season. He was standing with his mate and they were both sussing out some of the artwork I have. 

Taite Silverlock has had a nice addition to his lower leg over the off-season and we've just recruited Brad Helbig who has a sleeve, so there's a bit of competition about! I am booked in for some more work in February, March and April, however 

Hi Adam,

1. Were you a Westies fan growing up?

2. Understand injuries weren't kind to you in your time at Carlton, but how did you feel when the club let you go?

Btw thanks for doing this. I was tempted to ask questions about the occasional brain fade, but thought a bit of respect wouldn't go astray. 

Thanks for the replies, Harts, welcome to the forum...

Harts, who lifts more?

You or Justin Hardy?

Scrunch wrote:Hi Adam,

1. Were you a Westies fan growing up?

2. Understand injuries weren't kind to you in your time at Carlton, but how did you feel when the club let you go?

Btw thanks for doing this. I was tempted to ask questions about the occasional brain fade, but thought a bit of respect wouldn't go astray. 

1. Growing up, my old man played some reserves footy for West Torrens but Mum grew up barracking for the Magpies, so was divided in who I supported. I was then aligned to the Glenelg Football Club and played some underage footy there until they gave me the flick in my first year of U17s. I then signed at Westies a few weeks later.

2. I don't have a bad word to say about the Carlton Football Club. They gave me 5 years to show my potential, but as you stated injuries did take their toll. I remember my last pre-season being the fittest I'd ever been, last training session before the Christmas break I was doing a few crunches, went to stand up and tore the cartilage in my knee. Had an op, missed 3 months post Christmas. The writing was on the wall at that stage, even though I got back to playing some good VFL footy, I wasn't getting a look in into the Carlton squad.

Big Phil wrote:Harts, who lifts more?

You or Justin Hardy?

Justin Hardy by a long way! 

Certainly helps when he's spent the past 18 months in the gym (due to knee problem). 

We've got a couple of younger fellas who are lifting some impressive numbers at the moment though. Mase Middleton, Tom Keough & Corey Solly have all started the 2015 campaign big and strong.

Ben W wrote:Hi Harts,

Thanks for joining up the forum and being willing to answer some of these questions!

I am interested to understand how a typical weight training session works in an SANFL gym, Is it free weights or pin loaded machines or both? Do the trainers make players go to muscle failure or 3 x sets of a set number or similar? Is there a pattern of specific areas that you are made to train for Aussie rules football? Do the clubs take the players to offsite gym training facilities for specific programs?

 
Great question!

Our weights program has changed significantly this pre-season and reminds me a lot of the program we used in my last two or three seasons at Carlton. A lot of the lifting we do now is free weights (dumbbells, barbells, body weights exercises, fit balls, medicine balls), with a strong emphasis on core and lower body strength. Our programs are specific to a players roles; there are different programs for key position players, mid fielders, ruck men and of course blokes who are rehabbing certain injuries.

We try and replicate movements we'd typically use during a game up footy. Lots of squats, dead-lifts, lunges, as well as upper body (predominantly shoulders, chest & back) and core work. We do no more than 4 sets per exercise and work from repetitions of 8 down to 3 or 4, and often work in super-sets.

All weight sessions are done at our gym facility at Westies, under the watchful eye of our fitness staff. We do take some of our skills and cardio sessions away from the club from time to time, for a change of scenery.

Harts,

1. How far can you actually kick a footy?

2. How high can Westies finish in 2015?

Thanks in advance.

Harts7 wrote:

Scrunch wrote:Hi Adam,

1. Were you a Westies fan growing up?

2. Understand injuries weren't kind to you in your time at Carlton, but how did you feel when the club let you go?

Btw thanks for doing this. I was tempted to ask questions about the occasional brain fade, but thought a bit of respect wouldn't go astray. 

1. Growing up, my old man played some reserves footy for West Torrens but Mum grew up barracking for the Magpies, so was divided in who I supported. I was then aligned to the Glenelg Football Club and played some underage footy there until they gave me the flick in my first year of U17s. I then signed at Westies a few weeks later.

2. I don't have a bad word to say about the Carlton Football Club. They gave me 5 years to show my potential, but as you stated injuries did take their toll. I remember my last pre-season being the fittest I'd ever been, last training session before the Christmas break I was doing a few crunches, went to stand up and tore the cartilage in my knee. Had an op, missed 3 months post Christmas. The writing was on the wall at that stage, even though I got back to playing some good VFL footy, I wasn't getting a look in into the Carlton squad.

with mum working in the Glenelg area, i wouldn't be mentioning she barracks for Port......send her & Betty my best wishes please

Hey Harts,

Who is the best player you have played with during your time at West Adelaide?

Cheers,

BP

Good on you for getting involved here Harts, we all appreciate your input and responding to our questions.

Best surface to play on in the SANFL?

How do you see the AFL aligned sides impacting upon the SANFL in the short term?

Why didn't you really belt that fool from Unley? 

Hi Harts,

how hard was it at carlton arriving at a time when the club had lost many draft picks and was struggling; how was denis pagan as a coach, and what was it like to play and train alongside chris judd?

Flag No.9 wrote:Harts,

1. How far can you actually kick a footy?

2. How high can Westies finish in 2015?

Thanks in advance.

I haven't actually ever measured how long I can kick the footy. I do enjoy kicking a long ball though. Would be interesting to see how I'd go having a long-bomb contest against the little brother! 

I think we can definitely play finals in 2015 and that will be our expectation as a playing group. We were under-prepared last season and fell into some bad habits, thinking that it would all work out like it did in 2012 & 2013. We're back at training now and working really, really hard to get back to where we want to be.

Big Phil wrote:Hey Harts,

Who is the best player you have played with during your time at West Adelaide?

Cheers,

BP

Tough one to answer!

Different players and for different reasons, I'd have to say top 2 are David Piasante and Ryan Ferguson. I didn't get to play a lot of footy with Pia unfortunately due to the fact we were both often injured, but he was great to have in the same jumper. Other great/talented players I've been lucky to play with include the ever consistent Johnno Beech, Chris Schmidt, Fortunato Caruso and Joel Tippett.

Have I ever mentioned I was a big Fergie fan

Booney wrote:Good on you for getting involved here Harts, we all appreciate your input and responding to our questions.

Best surface to play on in the SANFL?

How do you see the AFL aligned sides impacting upon the SANFL in the short term?

Why didn't you really belt that fool from Unley? 

No problems Booney!

Best surface would have to be Richmond  In all serious though, I can't believe how lucky we are as semi-professional footballers to play on a-grade decks week after week. I can't recall ever rocking up to an SANFL match and thinking it was a bad ground/surface to be playing on. There were a couple of issues with Glenelg being a tad sandy a few years ago, but even that ground now is nice to play on. I remember playing on the Adelaide Oval back in 2004. The grass out there was like velvet, unbelievable surface to play on!

I think you'll see an improvement in standard in the SANFL competition as we are now battling against full-time footballers. Our professionalism as part-time footballers needs to improve and go to another level otherwise we are not going to be competitive. It would be nice to see the non-AFL based clubs be financially supported more by either the SANFL or even the AFL. If there was an increase of finances available to these clubs and perhaps an increase in salary cap, then the non-AFL based teams could potentially lure a player or two of higher profile to the club, making them stronger and more competitive. Theses extra funds could also be used on better gym equipment, rehab facilities and so on...

Hmmmmm that's still a bit of a touchy subject. All I'll say is that I served my suspension that was handed down by the SANFL, it would've been nice to see them punish the gentleman in question (who was a prior offender). It would've been nice to see the SANFL defend their player/players. But not to be.

The Hatchet wrote:Hi Harts,

how hard was it at carlton arriving at a time when the club had lost many draft picks and was struggling; how was denis pagan as a coach, and what was it like to play and train alongside chris judd?

To be honest, at the time I didn't realise how big a impact those loss of draft picks would have on the club. I think in 2003 they were only allowed to use their priority pick (Andrew Walker) then had to trade and use their rookie selections to pick up recycled players just to field a list. So as you could imagine, turning up their in 2004 we were behind the 8-ball a bit in regards to list management, but gave me a better opportunity to break into the senior team. 

I really liked Denis as a coach. Unfortunately the time he was there I was barely out on the park, suffering from knee and re-occurring hamstring problems. He finally gave me my first game in my 3rd season (2007), against the team I grew up barracking for (the Crows ). But later that season after a couple of bad losses he was shown the door and Brett Ratten took the reigns.

Juddy was amazing to work with. His professionalism towards every aspect of the game is unbelievable. His diet, his preparation, his recovery, his training, his work/training away from the club, he was on top of it all.

Hey Harts,

I think it is great you are putting yourself on here and willing to answer some questions, good on you, mate...

Any superstitions you have in your pre-game routine?