ENTERING his fifth year in the AFL, Harry Himmelberg no longer considers himself one of Greater Western Sydney's young brigade.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
And he's tapping into the wisdom of rugby league great and Giants consultant Cooper Cronk to help him take on a bigger leadership role as the club looks to go one better in 2020.
Small forward and Wagga product Himmelberg, last played at Robertson Oval as an Eastlake Demon in the NEAFL in 2015.
Fast forward five years and he's now an established AFL star with 65 games under his belt. He feels now is the time to step up, starting with Sunday's pre-season clash with grand final conquerors Richmond in his home town.
"I've been doing a lot of leadership stuff with Cooper. That's an area that doesn't take much effort physically, you can do that on your time off and in and around your program," the 23-year-old said.
"He keeps it very basic and doesn't look too much into stats, it's more how you prepare and things like that."
Himmelberg said he and fellow Riverina product Jeremy Finlayson relished the chance to lead the forward line in last week's win over Sydney, with big guns Toby Greene and Jeremy Cameron unavailable due to state of origin commitments.
"We fielded a pretty young side, it was another opportunity to take on a bit more leadership," he said.
"I'm going into my fifth year now so it's something I'm starting to really try and work on and Jezz (Finlayson) and I did a pretty good job of it, I thought."
Himmelberg insisted the Giants haven't dwelled on their 89-point grand final loss, but instead want to use Sunday's game against the league's benchmark to implement some adjustments they've worked on over summer.
"It's no different to other years. We were disappointed with the result, and you usually are every year unless you win the grand final," he said.
"We haven't reviewed it super hard, we've moved on and looked at the deficiencies we had and worked on them over pre-season.
"The team defence was one, and a few other little things.
"I'm really excited to get back and play in front of some familiar faces on Sunday. I think it's a massive thing for Wagga footy and the Riverina."
READ MORE
