I would argue Harvey had a far greater positive influence on most of those players careers than RL.
I) Pav is Pav regardless of his coach. I think he had greater control to play where he liked (move through the midfield to get the footy or go forward and finish) under Harvs but surely RL wasn't dumb enough to restrict him to any set position when he took over. Nil all draw.
II) McPharlin was also a legend regardless but for mine, a far more influential player under Harvey when he was allowed to take marks and rebound the ball. All he was allowed to do was spoil and kill the ball under RL which he was incredibly effective at but was never as good rebounding and intercepting possessions as earlier in his career.
III) Johnno's rebound, intercepting and creativity was at it's greatest under Harvs but he kept enough of that under RL to still be a great player. There's still probably more owed to Harvs than RL.
IV) Fyfe begun his career under Harvey who saw his potential as a midfielder and began giving him stints there after being recruited as a half forward. It's pretty hard to argue Harvs didn't shape him far more than RL. For example, in 2011 under Harvs he averaged 25 touches and kicked 18 goals, stamping himself as a gun of the competition in his second season spending most of his time in the middle with rests forward.
V) Ballas was shaped far more under Harvs as they combined with the likes of Chopper to establish the forward pressure game plan that everyone now uses.
While all these players reached high points in their career under RL, that was more due to the maturity of the side which had grown under Harvey and naturally continued under RL. While Pav may rave in his book about RL and the structure he brought that Pav craved, that doesn't allow players to learn and flourish.
When rebuilding a side like Harvey was (or we supposedly are now) with a number of fresh faced kids, you have to allow them to learn and grow. To be able to test themselves out and practice their skills, their movement, their reading of the play, to learn what they can and can't achieve. That happened under Harvey and it allowed for a premiership window to open up.
That's also been the most disappointing part of the previous few seasons of this 'rebuild'. There's no license for players to take the game on, to learn, to test their boundaries, to take risks and make mistakes. That's probably the number one reason right now I would be telling RL to pack his bags the moment he tried to ask for an extension. This safe, structured, negative shutdown football he employees is not just a blight to the game and the viewing experience, it's stunted any rebuild and we'll pay for that.