Cats give Hartman ‘indefinite break’

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YOUNG Cat Brad Hartman will take an indefinite break from football to deal with a range of personal issues.

The 20-year-old will return to live with his family in South Australia where he will weigh up his football future over the coming months, after his parents met the club yesterday morning.

Geelong football manager Steve Hocking confirmed late yesterday that as a result of the meeting, Hartman had been granted time out of the AFL program to work through "some personal challenges".

"He has been working with a psychologist and that will be ongoing moving forward," Hocking said. "This is about more than football. It is about educating Brad to make better choices and to help him figure out what does his future look like.

"At this point of time, it is important for him to spend time with his family to assess his options."

Brad Hartman celebrates a Cats win with fellow first-gamer Darcy Lang. Picture: Colleen Petch Source: News Corp Australia

Hartman, who comes from an elite basketball background and was taken by the Cats at pick 77 in the 2012 national draft, showed rapid development last season and played five AFL games.

But he returned to Simonds Stadium after the off-season break not meeting certain fitness markers set by the club.

And there was also an incident in December while driving home in South Australia, where he was charged with failing to stop at a stop sign after he allegedly clipped a parked car.

That incident has left Geelong's $250,000 sponsorship deal with the Transport Accident Commission hanging by a thread.

Hocking said the leadership group sat down with him upon his return to the club.

Brad Hartman in action against Hawthorn last season. Picture: Michael Klein Source: News Corp Australia

"They (the leadership group) set certain standards but Brad has found it difficult to meet those," he said.

"From day one when he got to the club, Brad has suffered from homesickness. It comes and goes, but when he does go back home (to Murray Bridge), when he first gets back, that yearn to be back home is particularly difficult for him."

Hocking said the club would continue to work with Hartman, with player welfare officer David Johnson set to fly to South Australia periodically to keep in personal contact with Hartman and his family.

"His teammates will also stay in touch with him, he has strong friendships here," Hocking said.

"At this stage, we will reconvene with Brad towards the end of March with myself, David Johnson, his manager and his family, and we'll also have the psychologist involved.

"If Brad is feeling like he wants to play AFL, then we will try to draw a map from there as to what the next few months look like. If not, then that is fine, and we will continue to work with him in transitioning to the next stage of his life.

"In the past month, he has been enrolled in a course involved around teaching and he has been really engaged in that and has enjoyed that. He may go away and say 'I want to pursue a career in teaching' or he may want to try and do both.

"Either way we will be here to support him in those decisions."

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