Harrison Petty
| Harrison Petty | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Petty in April 2025 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Born |
12 November 1999 Wudinna, South Australia, Australia | ||
| Original team | Norwood (SANFL) | ||
| Draft | No. 37, 2017 national draft | ||
| Debut | Round 15, 2018, Melbourne vs. St Kilda, at MCG | ||
| Height | 197 cm (6 ft 6 in) | ||
| Weight | 90 kg (198 lb) | ||
| Position | Key defender | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Melbourne | ||
| Number | 35 | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 2018– | Melbourne | 101 (48) | |
|
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of the 2025 season. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
Harrison Petty (born 12 November 1999) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was drafted by Melbourne with their third selection and thirty-seventh overall in the 2017 national draft.[1] He made his debut in the two point loss to St Kilda at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in round fifteen of the 2018 season.[2]
Early football
[edit]Petty played as a key postion defender for South Australia and was MVP and an All-Australian in the 2017 Under 18 carnival. Petty then played Under 19s and Reserves with Norwood before being drafted.[1]
AFL career
[edit]Petty was taken with pick 37 in the 2017 national draft and appeared in one game in the 2018 AFL season, and spent the rest of the year developing in the VFL with Casey Demons.[1] Petty signed a 2 year contract extension to keep him at the demons until 2020.[3]
Petty started the 2019 AFL season in defense but was shifted to the forward line for the first time in his career. He kicked three goals in his first game forward, and three more in the next four weeks before injury kept him out of the last two games.
After recovering from a groin injury, Petty started the 2021 AFL season in Melbourne's reserves side, before being recalled after a season-ending knee injury to Adam Tomlinson.[4] Petty impressed for the remainder of the year, playing a key role in Melbourne defence. He played on key forwards such as Josh Bruce, Eric Hipwood and Brody Mihocek and was responbile as a lockdown defender that allowed for Steven May and Jake Lever to intercept and attack on the rebound.[5] During round 17 against top-four placed Port Adelaide, Petty was able to showcase his own offensive intercepting abilities. Playing on both Todd Marshall and Mitch Georgiades, Petty finished the game with a career-high eight intercepts.[6] Petty ended his season playing in Melbourne's 2021 AFL Grand Final win.[7]
His 2022 season was delayed by a calf injury, not returning to the side until round 5. From there he was a key pillar in the league's best backline, holding his spot through to the end of the season. In round 23 an incident involving Brisbane captain Dayne Zorko was investigated by the AFL after Petty was left in tears at The Gabba. An emotional Petty was surrounded by teammates at three-quarter time after what Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin described as an "inappropriate" comment about a family member.[8]
After starting the 2023 AFL season in defence, he was used as a forward again, before a foot injury in the round 9 game against Hawthorn cost him several weeks. He went forward again in round 20 and kicked a career best six goals against Richmond, before another foot injury the following week ended his season.
Petty returned to the forward line early in 2024 but struggled for goals, kicking just nine in 20 games.
In early 2025, Petty returned to defence but was soon required in Melbourne's struggling forwad line and ended the season with a career high 20 goals.
Statistics
[edit]Updated to the end of the 2025 season.[9]
G
|
Goals | K
|
Kicks | D
|
Disposals | T
|
Tackles |
B
|
Behinds | H
|
Handballs | M
|
Marks | ||
#
|
Played in that season's premiership team |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | Votes | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | |||||
| 2018 | Melbourne | 35 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 7.0 | 4.0 | 11.0 | 4.0 | 2.0 | 0 |
| 2019 | Melbourne | 35 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 55 | 38 | 93 | 43 | 21 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 5.5 | 3.8 | 9.3 | 4.3 | 2.1 | 0 |
| 2020 | Melbourne | 35 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 2021# | Melbourne | 35 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 107 | 54 | 161 | 68 | 31 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5.6 | 2.8 | 8.5 | 3.6 | 1.6 | 0 |
| 2022 | Melbourne | 35 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 111 | 80 | 191 | 70 | 41 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 6.2 | 4.4 | 10.6 | 3.9 | 2.3 | 0 |
| 2023[a] | Melbourne | 35 | 14 | 12 | 1 | 78 | 64 | 142 | 64 | 31 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 5.6 | 4.6 | 10.1 | 4.6 | 2.2 | 2 |
| 2024 | Melbourne | 35 | 20 | 9 | 15 | 105 | 72 | 177 | 95 | 57 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 5.3 | 3.6 | 8.9 | 4.8 | 2.9 | 3 |
| 2025 | Melbourne | 35 | 19 | 20 | 10 | 106 | 58 | 164 | 77 | 33 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 5.6 | 3.1 | 8.6 | 4.1 | 1.7 | 0 |
| Career | 101 | 48 | 31 | 569 | 370 | 939 | 421 | 216 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 5.6 | 3.7 | 9.3 | 4.2 | 2.1 | 5 | ||
Notes
- ^ 2023 statistics include one game in which Petty was substituted out of the game due to injury (round 9) and was replaced by James Jordon.
Honours and achievements
[edit]Team
Individual
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Ryan, Peter (26 November 2017). "Melbourne Demons draft Harrison Petty soon after his unlucky break". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
- ^ "Harrison Petty set for AFL debut". West Coast Sentinel. Fairfax Media. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
- ^ Guthrie, Ben (28 May 2018). "Good news comes in threes for Dees". AFL Media. Telstra Media. Retrieved 30 October 2025.
- ^ Cleary, Mitch (3 May 2021). "Scans confirm the worst for key Dee as selection dilemma looms". AFL Media. Telstra Media. Retrieved 30 October 2025.
- ^ Beveridge, Riley (17 July 2021). "Sitting Petty: Young Demon reaping rewards after biding his time". AFL Media. Telstra Media. Retrieved 30 October 2025.
- ^ "Port Adelaide v Melbourne". AFL Tables. Retrieved 30 October 2025.
- ^ "AFL grand final: Melbourne win first AFL Premiership for 57 years in bulldogs thrashing". Sporting News. 25 September 2021. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
- ^ Whiting, Michael (20 August 2022). "Dees to hand Zorko-Petty incident over to AFL as Lions apologise". AFL Media. Telstra Media. Retrieved 30 October 2025.
- ^ "Harry Petty". AFL Tables. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
External links
[edit]
- Harrison Petty's profile on the official website of the Melbourne Football Club
- Harrison Petty's playing statistics from AFL Tables
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