MILESTONE Cat Harry Taylor didn’t expect to reach 250 AFL games.

As a mature-age pickup in the 2007 national draft, he wasn’t even sure he’d play one.

“It’s a long way from where I started,” Taylor says.

Figuratively and literally, the quirky Cat has come a long way. Before he caught the eye of Cats recruiting boss Stephen Wells, Taylor was working as a labourer, playing WAFL footy for East Fremantle and couldn’t even pinpoint Geelong on a map.

“I hadn’t done a lot of travel. I was a country kid who hadn’t really ventured too far outside of Western Australia when I got drafted,” he says.

“For me in my mind, Geelong was a suburb of Melbourne. I had very, very little idea about where it was.”

Despite his naivety, Taylor wasn’t backwards in coming forwards when it came to what he could offer the football club.

As fellow defender Tom Lonergan told aflplayers.com.au, the unique individual made an impact on arrival in Geelong.

 “He stood up in front of the group and said: ‘I’m here to help you guys win.’

“You see a lot of kids come in and they don’t say anything for the first three years. But being a little more mature when he got to Geelong, it was pretty clear Harry definitely wasn’t shy. He wasn’t arrogant or anything like that but he was confident in his own ability. He knew what he wanted and knew what he needed to do to get there.”

When Taylor took those first steps through the doors at Kardinia Park, he wasn’t sure what he’d got himself into. 

“I remember the first car trip with Luke Williams who was one of the recruiters here at that stage. It all looked pretty bleak and miserable when we first came in weather wise.

“But as soon as I walked into the club the smiles and the energy proved to me that it was going to be a great place to work.”

It’s that culture that accepted Taylor’s quirks and allowed him to thrive.

Lonergan and defensive teammate Mark Blicavs shared some of Taylor’s eccentricities in that AFL Players piece.

“After we won the 2009 flag, I remember we had a function back at Kardinia Park to celebrate,” Lonergan says.

“During the night I had to collect something from my locker in the changerooms downstairs and I walked into the recovery room and there was Harry Taylor – having almost won the Norm Smith medal for his job on Nick Riewoldt – sitting in the ice bath doing his recovery. He’d just won a Grand Final and there he was sitting in icy water as part of his post-game routine.”

“Another example of his unique personality is when he and his Dad drove his early-2000s car, complete with East Fremantle numberplates, from Melbourne to Perth last year,” Blicavs says.

“Being a bit old fashioned, Harry refused to use the air conditioner and they didn’t even switch on the radio to ensure that whole experience remained as pure as possible.”

Despite Taylors’ strong links to home, he says he couldn’t consider a move back to WA when the offers arrived on his doorstep.

“For me and my wife the biggest thing was the culture of the Geelong Football club. We felt like we couldn’t leave that environment because it was so strong and so supportive.”

 “We loved the Geelong culture. I loved the players and I loved the coaches and I couldn’t see myself ever playing against them,” Taylor says.

Taylor feels privileged to have landed in Geelong, allowing him to experience two premierships which he views as the highlights of his career.

“Team success is something that I’m most proud about – it’s something I’ve always tried to strive for. Premierships are the ultimate team success and I’m very fortunate to have played in a couple of successful flags.

“The moments when the grand final siren finishes to complete the whole season and you look at the scoreboard and you know you’re in front, that’s a pretty significant moment that I’ve been lucky enough to experience. I just hope that more of our players get to do that.

Taylor believes game 250 is more about celebrating the relationships he’s fostered in Geelong, as opposed to those personal highlights.

“The milestone is more about the people who have helped me get to where I am. In particular my wife and the amount of work she puts in,” he says

“She’s the star of the family in terms of the sacrifices she makes for myself and our kids.”