Brent Harvey has confirmed he knocked back lucrative offers from Hawthorn and Carlton to leave North Melbourne, with the Blues offering him as much as $700,000 a season and the club captaincy.
Writing in his autobiography Boomer, Harvey said the Carlton offer came in the early 2000's when dual Kangaroos premiership coach Denis Pagan was with the Blues.
Harvey said Carlton’s first offer was $600,000 but grew to about $700,000 – plus the chance to lead the club. Anthony Koutoufides was Carlton skipper at the time.
Harvey said he wasn’t sure whether the Blues would have anointed him immediately or elevated him once Koutoufides retired.
“This proposal was significant and one I (had to get my) head around. There’s no doubt, if I had accepted it, I would have been in the top-five highest paid players in the competition,” said Harvey, who was appointed North Melbourne captain in 2009 and held the role for three seasons.
He said the Hawks tried to lure him in 2000 with a three-year, $1.2 million offer that left him “sick to my stomach” contemplating leaving the Roos.
Despite having agreed to take several pay cuts when North was struggling financially, Harvey said he couldn’t bring himself to leave Arden Street.
“I can honestly say, even if the Blues’ offer had been a million dollars a year, I still would have knocked it back,” he said.
“I swear on my kids: no offer would have swayed me because what I was earning was more than fair and North meant the world to me.”
On Saturday night, Harvey is set to become the league’s longest-serving player when he racks up his 427th match.
