Paul Harding (Australian rules footballer)


Paul Harding is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Hawthorn, St. Kilda and West Coast in the VFL/AFL.
Paul was a great player for East Fremantle, with whom he began during a bleak period in 1981 and rose startlingly to play for his state in 1983 almost on his nineteenth birthday, and is also remembered at many junior clubs.
Harding usually played as a ruckman and was a member of the West Australian interstate team which won the national title in the season of his interstate debut. He was recruited from East Fremantle to Hawthorn for the 1987 VFL season but struggled to make the side regularly due to injuries.
In 1989 he crossed to St Kilda and played 62 games for them over three seasons. He continued to represent Western Australia and in 1991 won a Simpson Medal for his performance against the Victorians.
West Coast acquired the services of Harding in 1992 and he played in their inaugural Grand Final winning side that year. After leaving West Coast he finished his career at East Fremantle and ended with 112 senior games for the club, including premierships in 1985 and 1994.
After retiring as a footballer, he worked at the Fremantle Dockers. When Matthew Pavlich first came to Western Australia, he lived with Paul Harding and his family. Pavlich lived there for a while before buying his own property.
Paul Harding is now a dentist.