Career
Hurley played for the Northern Knights in the TAC Cup, he was selected in the TAC Cup Team of the Year in both the 2007 and 2008 seasons. The next few seasons saw Hurley"s form fluctuate due to injury and the constant shuffling of his position in the team between key forward and key back. Over the next four years he averaged 22 goals per season, and spent just as much time playing in the back line on some of the opposition"s best key forwards, where his precise kicking and attacking flair out of the back half were noticeable on numerous occasions.
The 2014 season brought with it a permanent role for Hurley as a key defender, the position for which he was initially drafted.
This newfound positional consistency allowed him to really begin to shine as a football player. He played a career-high 21 games during the season and averaged 19 disposals, six marks and three rebound 50s for the year.
Despite Essendon"s poor performances in the 2015 season, Hurley"s standing continued to grow. Across 19 games he averaged 21 disposals, seven marks and close to six rebound 50s per match and stood tall in a backline that was under constant siege throughout the year.
His consistency was awarded with second place in Essendon"s best & fairest and his first All-Australian selection.
On 12 January 2016 Hurley was named as one of 34 past and present Essendon players found guilty over their use of illegal supplements during the 2012 American Federation of Labor-Congress season. As a result, Hurley was suspended for twelve months, effective from November 2015, meaning he will miss the entire 2016 American Federation of Labor-Congress season. On 25 September 2009, Hurley was arrested after a drunken altercation with a taxi driver, after the driver demanded payment for the fare when Hurley asked him to stop at a fast food drivethrough.
Hurley was later charged with multiple counts of assault.
lieutenant is alleged that he punched the driver and kicked him in the groin.