Brad Hardie Biography

Brad Hardie is inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

Hardie stunned the competition by claiming the Brownlow Medal following his first season at Footscray in 1985.

"I'd had a good grounding playing for South at that stage, and state footy and Gaelic football for Australia," Hardie said about his Brownlow-winning debut season.

"You'd already introduced yourself to a lot of blokes you were playing with and against, so you didn't feel that intimidation factor that you might of as a kid stepping out for your first time.

"But the enormity comes later. When you're 22 you're bulletproof and you know everything. You just take it in your stride."

Fremantle has emphatically dismissed a Perth radio claim by Brad Hardie that Dockers coach Ross Lyon approached Collingwood about becoming its next senior coach.

"I am bitterly disappointed that such so-called journalism even sees the light of day," Lyon said in a statement.

"I have contacted Brad Hardie directly and voiced my disgust at his comments.

"They are totally without foundation and not based on fact in any way, shape or form.

"Such an erroneous and reckless claim should be exposed for what it is – a complete fabrication and a falsehood."

Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley lashes out at the media after a report that Fremantle coach Ross Lyon had approached Collingwood about coaching the club in 2018.

Perth broadcaster Brad Hardie made the sensational claim on 6PR radio and the story has since been angrily rebutted by the Dockers.

Buckley echoed Lyon's disappointment that the story was aired and said Hardie should be held to account for it.

"You guys know the ones (reporters) that do the due diligence and do your work and support your suppositions with fact, and you also know the ones that take leaps of faith. You've got to hold those blokes to account," Buckley said.

"How can you let someone come up with absolute fabrications, who's in your industry? That's the key question."

Bulldogs great Doug Hawkins defended former teammate Brad Hardie, declaring he should have been a no-brainer for Mick Malthouse's best team.

"I'm not talking best 22. Best 18," Hawkins said.

"In my opinion, Brad had the same impact in two years under Mick as some took six to 10 years to achieve."