Maturity has been the key to Michael Hartley’s return to the elite level of Australian Rules Football.

Hailing from Penrith in NSW, Hartley’s ability as a junior was impressive enough to land him on Collingwood’s development program at just 14 years of age.

The defender represented NSW in the U18 National Championship and kept that year’s number one draft pick, Jonathan Patton, well covered.

His effort was rewarded with a spot on the Magpie’s rookie list later that year.

However, injury would cast a dark shadow over Hartley’s time at the Pies, leaving many questioning ‘what could have been’.

Delisted but not disheartened, Hartley sought to continue his football career in Victoria for Coburg – who had recently become a standalone Club and were looking to recruit new players.

Coburg Lions’  Head Coach, Peter German remembers the first glimpse he got of the talented defender.

“When he first came to us, we had just started off fresh as a standalone Club and were obviously looking for players,” German said.

“Our football manager at the time got a couple of guys who were friends with Mick – who in turn told him to come down for a run.

“I had no idea really who he was, but we sort of found out that there was something about him.”

Hartley began his first pre-season with the Lions in 2014.

Having undergone three separate shoulder surgeries during his time at Collingwood, Hartley worked hard to once again to regain the fitness and confidence that would allow him to return to senior football.

Hartley’s coaches worked with his raw talent and built on other attributes off the field that would give him a chance to return to the elite level.

“I could see that there was talent, but knew that there was still going to be a fair amount of work involved,” German said.

“Mick would agree totally that he didn’t understand the requirements of AFL football and the professionalism required.

“He’d just come off a couple of operations on his shoulders so he wasn’t 100% confident with his body and everything.

“I just wanted to get him playing footy again. He’d only played five or six games over two seasons, so we needed to start getting him back on the track and see if we could get him playing some footy.”

Hartley’s first season at Coburg saw him return to the radar of many AFL Clubs.  But on draft night his name wasn’t called and the defender would have to wait another year for his chance at a return to senior football.

Rather than conceding defeat, Hartley returned to Coburg in the 2015 season spurred on by the knowledge that there was some interest in him at an AFL level, and that if he worked hard enough – he could earn another shot.

This year, The 198cm backman won the Club’s best and fairest and was named in the VFL Team of the year.

“It was a confidence thing, he grew in confidence,” German said.

“We pushed him into the leadership group and I quite openly said to him often that ‘you’re our defensive captain’ – just trying to give him that confidence to take on the main role and think of himself as the main player.

“After 2014 he really grew as a player and just started to understand more about the game and himself.”

Hartley’s hard work was rewarded when he was taken with the Bombers’ final pick in the 2015 draft.

Adrian Dodoro and the rest of the Essendon recruiting team were well aware of Hartley ’s ability, having flagged him as a potential recruit for the team’s NAB Challenge series.

Despite missing out on selection then, Hartley has proven he is ready to once again take his game to the next level.

Making it onto the list is just the first part of what will hopefully be a successful second venture in to the AFL.