“Geelong will go just fine,” Harley, the guest speaker at yesterday’s Albury Tigers business lunch and season launch at Paddy’s Irish Bar, said.

“The core players are hardly past their prime.

“And you would still love to have in your team some of the older players.

“I would be concerned if I was in an opposing side.”

Harley, who now works as a project consultant for the Western Sydney Football Club, as well as an assistant coach and mentor with the AIS-AFL Academy, says the AFL’s move to have a second Sydney club was not a “war” with rugby league.

“The biggest challenge is engaging the people of western Sydney,” he said.

“What we are about is giving kids a choice and a clear career path.

“It is a big area and there is plenty of room for all codes.”

Harley is confident about the new club’s future.

“The AFL is a great brand and a great game,” he said.

“There is plenty of potential and I think the new club will go well.”

And will he return to his beloved Geelong one day in a coaching capacity?

“You never say never but coaching is certainly not on my radar at the moment,” he laughed.

“It’s not high on my agenda.

“Perhaps it might be a matter of going back there in an administrative capacity.”

Has he had trouble in dealing with his first year of retirement from the game?

“Yeah, it has had its challenging moments having such a change in life,” he said.

“I suppose I have been lucky because I went out on top, but physically I couldn’t go any further so I guess the decision was made for me.”

Yesterday’s lunch was attended by 260 people, including former AFL stars John Sharrock, Wayne Richardson and Stan Magro.