Hartlett, 18, became the Power’s highest-ever draft-pick when he was snapped up with pick number four in last year’s NAB AFL Draft.
He pulled on the black, white and teal for the first time in the NAB Cup-opener against the Swans, but was sidelined for three weeks after injuring his AC joint.
The former West Adelaide junior watched enviously from the sidelines as the likes of Rich, Fremantle’s Stephen Hill and Collingwood’s Dayne Beams make their AFL debuts.
Hartlett’s moment finally arrived on Sunday and he said it was definitely worth the wait.
“To be involved in such a fantastic win for the club and to have a bit of an impact myself was fantastic,” Hartlett said on Tuesday.
“You see guys like Daniel, Stephen and even Jack Ziebell at North Melbourne playing so well and you’ve played with and against them for the last few years.
“It makes you want to get out there even more, so to get the opportunity on the weekend and actually play pretty well was very pleasing.”
The highly-skilled onballer picked up 23 polished possessions and 11 marks and was unlucky not to receive a NAB Rising Star nomination in his first game.
Hartlett’s impressive debut made headlines in his native South Australia, but the level-headed first-year said there was no danger of him getting carried away with his dream start to AFL football.
“I’ll be looking to back up the weekend’s performance on Friday night against St Kilda,” he said.
“As my dad said to me last night, ‘a career is not based on one game’ and Choco (coach Mark Williams) has quite high expectations of me as do I and a few other people.
“Choco was quite happy with the way everything went, but he’s not going to be satisfied with one OK game from me. He’s going to keep pushing me to play well each week.”
Harlett, who played predominantly across half-back, said some early, uncontested possession had helped settle his serves on the big MCG stage.
“I started on the bench, so I wasn’t feeling too bad and the nerves were all right,” Hartlett said.
“But as soon as I got the call to go on the ground I started to get a bit jittery. When I actually ran out I was overwhelmed with the whole experience and the atmosphere of the crowd.”
