Given Harry Taylor has become one of the best defenders to play in the AFL in the past two decades, it would be easy to assume that a host of recruiters made a blunder by overlooking him during his teenage years.

But Cats recruiting boss Stephen Wells, who selected Taylor as a 21-year-old in the 2007 draft, is adamant that such an assumption is incorrect.

“It wasn’t as if he was a standout player who made missed out on being drafted due to some bad luck,” Wells told Cats Media. “He just hadn’t played well enough. 

“Everyone develops and matures at different rates, and here was Harry who as an 18-, 19- and 20-year-old was still learning the game and probably still learning about his body.”

Taylor had grown up playing footy in the regional Western Australian city of Geraldton, before heading to Perth to have a run in the WAFL with East Fremantle and study physiotherapy at university. 

He caught Wells’ eye while playing with the Sharks in 2007.

Wells then drafted him as a speculative replacement for key defender Matthew Egan, who had gone down with a serious foot injury on the eve of the ’07 finals series.

“Harry wasn’t a readymade player in any way,” Wells recalled. “He hadn’t dominated in the WAFL, but he’d shown a skillset that we thought would allow him to develop as an AFL defender – or forward for that matter.

“The main parts of his character that we were interested in were his willingness to learn and his ability to fit into the team and club environment.”

Wells was confident he had made a sound choice after watching the way that Taylor went about his business in the lead-up to the 2008 season.

“When he turned up, he was as professional as you can possibly be from day one,” Wells said.

“He has just soaked up everything that every coach and player around him offered in terms of experience and learning opportunities, and he worked very hard. 

“Harry has always been the ultimate professional when it comes to that.”

Taylor improved so quickly that he ended up making his AFL debut, as a key defender, in round two of the 2008 season.

He has missed only a handful of matches since then, and on Sunday, when the Cats take on Richmond at the MCG, he will reach his 200-game milestone.

“Harry learnt so much from the brilliant defensive players that he was playing with when he first got to the club – players like Matthew Scarlett, Tom Harley, Corey Enright and Andrew Mackie,” Wells said.

“That has held him in good stead throughout his career.”

Since arriving at Geelong, Taylor has developed a reputation for being his own man.

An avid student of military history, he is known to enjoy reading books about famous generals while sipping from a glass of cognac.

But he has also become renowned for being a meticulous planner, who spends hours researching his upcoming opponents.

“Before we drafted him, we found out that Harry was very much an individual but also a very driven person,” Well said.

“Harry gives himself the best chance to perform well every week. He just prepares very professionally.”

There have been many highpoints in Taylor’s career.

After all, he was a two-time premiership player by 2011 and a two-time All Australian by 2013.

But he has produced few better performances than the one in the 2009 Grand Final, when he held St Kilda superstar Nick Riewoldt to one goal as the Cats won by 12 points.

“He would’ve got a lot of confidence and satisfaction out of being a good contributor in a successful team,” Wells said.” Whether it was the making of him or not, I’m not sure.

“What I do know is he’s still learning and still going about his business very, very well.”

These days, Taylor is one of the elder statesmen in a team that is once again in premiership contention.

A brilliant reader of the play, the 30-year-old remains one of Geelong’s best intercept markers.

But, apart from the odd stint up forward, he also remains one of the club’s best options when it comes to shutting down the opposition’s tall forwards.

“He’s able to cope with being under extreme pressure against those key forwards every week,” Wells added.

“We’ve needed Harry to play well, and he’s done it all through his career.”