ESSENDON legend Mark Harvey is no stranger to Warrnambool.
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The three-time premiership player was at Reid Oval on Sunday as part of the Bombers' Country Tour and delivered a speech to both Warrnambool and Terang Mortlake juniors about his love of the game.
It was the first of two planned trips to the south-west in a week. Harvey, 56, will return on Thursday to watch the Lindsey Smith-trained Bellman - a horse he part-owns - vie to win at the May Racing Carnival.
It's great to see them all fitted out in their kit and with Sheeds, he had a lot to do with building the club up to what it is today.
- Mark Harvey
The former Fremantle coach was due to speak with legendary coach Kevin Sheedy but the 74-year-old, who has been completing the circuit, went down with COVID-19 prior to the event.
"We've got the premiership cups with us, the amount of people wherever we've gone - Horsham, Echuca, Traralgon, Leongatha, out here - it's been great. There's always been two or three hundred people," he said.
"To see the joy on their faces has been great. We've had Dustin Fletcher along the way, obviously Sheeds, a few other players. I think it's a great initiative and I think all clubs should consider doing it with the country."
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Harvey said he'd travelled to Warrnambool on several occasions, particularly to engage with the former supporters group which folded in February. He said Bombers fans always turned out in force. "It's great to see them all fitted out in their kit and with Sheeds, he had a lot to do with building the club up to what it is today," he said.
"It just brings happiness to everybody. It's just good to be out talking to people. Particularly on the back of COVID in the past two years we've become a bit reclusive. So it's good to be back out and about."
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