The 19 year-old former basketballer’s AFL debut seemed miles away when he arrived at the club in late 2012.
After playing all eight games in the VFL this year, including a best on ground performance against Collingwood at Victoria Park, Hartman earned a call up and debuted alongside teammate Darcy Lang.
“There’s no better feeling than running onto the ground through the banner like that,” Hartman told Cats TV.
“It was a bit surreal at the start, I felt sorry for Darcy (sub) who had to sit around for a bit longer but once I got out there it felt good just to play footy.”
After working hard throughout the pre-season to improve his work around the contest, contested ball is now something Hartman prides himself on.
With 35 family and friends watching from the stands, Hartman’s hard work made for an impressive debut as he recorded 14 disposals and five tackles.
“It’s a lot quicker out there, I felt like I was running on the spot a bit sometimes. Once I got used to the pace I felt pretty comfortable.”
As for a return next week, Hartman isn’t getting too ahead of himself.
“I’ll go back and watch my edits with a few of the coaches and see where I can improve in areas and just take it from there.”
