Pressure Set To Drive Giants' AFL Recovery
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Greater Western Sydney forward Harry Himmelberg says his side will only know if they turned a corner in last week's belting of Adelaide if they can back it up against Geelong on Saturday evening.
The Giants looked ferocious in a first-half onslaught that saw them kick 11 of 13 goals in a performance reminiscent of more successful seasons past, but the 25-year-old acknowledged it was just one step towards digging themselves out of an early-season hole.
They'll head to Manuka Oval looking to improve on their 2-5 record against a Cats side that ended their 2021 season with a 35-point semi-final loss.
Himmelberg expects a stern test against Geelong, who also enter off the back of defeat, a thrilling three-point loss to Fremantle.
"They're obviously a really good team in good form coming off the back of a pretty good start to the season ... we're obviously looking to put another win on the board," he told reporters.
"The way we won last week was the way we wanted to play with that really high pressure and then using the footy well going forward ... we're looking to repeat that this weekend.
"There's lots of ups and downs in a footy season ...
on the back of that pressure we brought last week, that's something we can bring this week and have similar results."
The Giants go in with an unchanged side - a rarity in recent seasons - while Geelong welcome back Patrick Dangerfield.
The Cats will be missing Joel Selwood (corked quad) and Esava Ratugolea though, who withdrew late on Friday. Shannon Neale comes into the team as an emergency.
While Dangerfield will cause headaches, it was Giants co-skipper Toby Greene tearing apart opposition defences last weekend with a four-goal, 17-disposal performance in his second game back from suspension.
But Himmelberg insisted GWS would not fall into the trap of becoming overly reliant on their superstar forward.
"It's pretty naive if you think one player is going to make all the difference when there's 36 guys on the field," he said.
"Toby coming back gave us a boost and he's one of our captains, he leads by example.
"But we played the footy that we wanted to play as a team last week, which is why he was able to play like that and why we're able to win."
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The Giants looked ferocious in a first-half onslaught that saw them kick 11 of 13 goals in a performance reminiscent of more successful seasons past, but the 25-year-old acknowledged it was just one step towards digging themselves out of an early-season hole.
They'll head to Manuka Oval looking to improve on their 2-5 record against a Cats side that ended their 2021 season with a 35-point semi-final loss.
Himmelberg expects a stern test against Geelong, who also enter off the back of defeat, a thrilling three-point loss to Fremantle.
"They're obviously a really good team in good form coming off the back of a pretty good start to the season ... we're obviously looking to put another win on the board," he told reporters.
"The way we won last week was the way we wanted to play with that really high pressure and then using the footy well going forward ... we're looking to repeat that this weekend.
"There's lots of ups and downs in a footy season ...
on the back of that pressure we brought last week, that's something we can bring this week and have similar results."
The Giants go in with an unchanged side - a rarity in recent seasons - while Geelong welcome back Patrick Dangerfield.
The Cats will be missing Joel Selwood (corked quad) and Esava Ratugolea though, who withdrew late on Friday. Shannon Neale comes into the team as an emergency.
While Dangerfield will cause headaches, it was Giants co-skipper Toby Greene tearing apart opposition defences last weekend with a four-goal, 17-disposal performance in his second game back from suspension.
But Himmelberg insisted GWS would not fall into the trap of becoming overly reliant on their superstar forward.
"It's pretty naive if you think one player is going to make all the difference when there's 36 guys on the field," he said.
"Toby coming back gave us a boost and he's one of our captains, he leads by example.
"But we played the footy that we wanted to play as a team last week, which is why he was able to play like that and why we're able to win."
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