But as "Boomer" equals Michael Tuck's AFL games record against Collingwood on Friday night, with an amazing 426 senior appearances, it's still possible to isolate the very best of an enormous body of work.

These games are the pick of the Harvey collection, the best of the best spanning his entire career, with one entry coming in just his 19th game and another from this season, his 412th.

1. North Melbourne v West Coast (Etihad Stadium, April 10, 2010)

Photo: Pat Scala

​

Round three of 2010 saw Harvey coming off one of the worst handful of games of his career. He'd been held to just five disposals by St Kilda tagger Clint Jones, frustrated to the point of madness as the Roos were belted by more than 100 points.

This response smacked of professional pride, resulting in arguably his best performance and helping his team restore its equilibrium.

Against West Coast Harvey racked up 44 disposals and a goal (and with 1.3 might have had a few more). He also very nearly produced the goal of the year as he launched a seven-bounce run off half-back, his eventual shot hitting the post.

2. Victoria v South Australia (MCG, May 29, 1999)

Harvey had just turned 21 when picked for what would become Victoria's last state of origin clash, and the week before the game he had clocked up his first milestone of 50 AFL matches.

The "baby" of the team came off the interchange bench to immediately make a mark, lurking near goals at the feet of key targets Matthew Lloyd and Chris Grant. A memorable debut in the Big V finished with 19 possessions, nine marks and five goals, earning Harvey the E.J. Whitten Medal as Victoria's best player.

"It's the last [medal] of the century, so it will get framed, along with my jumper, and [I'll] cherish it for the rest of my life," he said after the game. "I was sitting home last night and I was thinking, 'I've got to get up in the morning and go play for Victoria,' so it was definitely a dream."

3. North Melbourne v Melbourne (Blundstone Arena, April 10, 2016)

Photo: Getty Images

In an amazingly high-scoring shootout at a windy Blundstone Arena in Hobart, Harvey finished with his highest individual goal tally of six, his contribution and 22 disposals the difference in a match the Roos won by just five points.

Harvey chipped in with one as North piled on eight goals in the first term. He held the fort in the second term with another one, as Melbourne slammed on nine goals for the quarter to take the lead.

But it was his third term that proved decisive, reaping only four disposals but with three of those producing goals, enabling the Roos to take an 18-point lead into the final change. As the Demons charged again in the last, another major gave him an even half-dozen for the game.

4. Port Adelaide v North Melbourne (AAMI Stadium, April 11, 1998)

Photo: Bryan Charlton

Harvey hadn't even been picked to play against Port Adelaide in round three of his third season at senior level, but came into the team at the last minute, replacing the injured John Longmire.

The little man, aged 19, was still recovering from a pre-season broken collarbone, and was expected to be given another week to recover. But in driving rain, his ground-level smarts were perfectly suited to the occasion.

With Longmire out and Wayne Carey unusually used at centre half-back, Harvey's adept crumbing was match-winning stuff as the Roos piled on seven goals in the first term – Harvey and another small, Winston Abraham, sharing nine for the game.

Harvey finished the night with 19 disposals and five goals straight, a performance that would earn him three Brownlow Medal votes in just his 19th AFL game.

5. North Melbourne v Essendon (Etihad Stadium, April 19, 2009)

Harvey's start to the 2009 season had been unusually quiet, blanketed effectively first by Melbourne's Clint Bartram, then the Western Bulldogs' Liam Picken, before another average outing against Hawthorn.

This was a brilliant response. The statement of intent came early, with 10 first-quarter possessions and a goal.

He'd racked up 17 touches by the long break, helped break the game open for the Kangaroos with another seven disposals and two important goals in the third term, and finished with 33, along with three goals.

Harvey's 14 handball receives were evidence of his running power. And it wasn't all outside stuff, his 10 contested possessions more than everyone but two others on the ground. Not surprisingly, on Brownlow night it was: "Harvey … three votes."

"When you work hard, you get a look at it, and I probably wasn't working as hard as I should have been in the first couple of weeks," he conceded after the game.

That certainly wasn't in question in this game.

Photo: Getty Images