Leigh Harding (born 26 April 1981) is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League. He currently serves as an Offensive Skills coach at the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions is a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was formed in late 1996 via a merger of the Melbourne-based 1883 foundation VFL c ...

, and also as an assistant coach of the Lions' NEAFL reserves team. Originally from

Teesdale, Victoria Teesdale is a small town in the Golden Plains Shire, near the regional city of Geelong and less than west of the state capital, Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous ci ...

, a small town near

Bannockburn, Victoria Bannockburn is a rural township near Geelong, Victoria, Australia, 88 km southwest of Melbourne. It is located in Golden Plains Shire. In the , Bannockburn had a population of 6,470. History The township, originally named Leigh Road, was f ...

Harding then played under-18 football with the

Geelong Falcons The Geelong Falcons is a youth Australian rules football representative club in the NAB League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition, Victoria, Australia. The club takes in talented junior players from the Geelong, Colac and Warrnambo ...

before he moved to play with Geelong in the VFL. Selected in the 2000 rookie draft, he was elevated from the Kangaroos'

rookie list The rookie list is a means for Australian Football League (AFL) clubs to maintain additional players outside the 38-man primary or senior list. Rookie listed players are not eligible to play in AFL home-and-away or finals matches unless they are e ...

in 2001, where he made his debut as a 20-year-old. A crumbing forward, Harding had the tendency to miss simple shots at goal on the run, although he had a high work rate. He topped the Kangaroos goalkicking in 2003 with just 33 goals, an equal personal best season haul. In 2005, Harding moved from being a fringe player to more of a regular role. This improved in 2006 when he played 19 games out of 21 until the final training session before Round 22, the final week of the season. Bad luck struck when he suffered a serious knee injury, requiring a

knee reconstruction Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACL reconstruction) is a surgical tissue graft replacement of the anterior cruciate ligament, located in the knee, to restore its function after an injury. The torn ligament can either be removed from ...

, keeping him out of playing for around 12 months. Leigh Harding retired from football in 2010.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, Leigh North Melbourne Football Club players Murray Kangaroos Football Club players Werribee Football Club players 1981 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Geelong