Is Harry Himmelberg the Competition’s Most Underrated Forward?
In just his fourth season, Himmelberg has become one of the competition’s deadliest forwards that few are talking about.
Despite Himmelberg having his best season yet, the 23-year-old GIANT is still one of the most underrated forwards in the competition.
While teammates Jeremy Cameron (54) and Jeremy Finlayson (31) are ahead of Himmelberg in the Coleman Medal race, the athletic forward has kicked 30 of his own, including his four goals against Collingwood on Saturday.
Although there are players with more goals than Himmelberg, none are more deadly than when it comes to turning opportunities into goals or – as you’ll soon find out – creating opportunities for others.
Himmelberg’s 30 goals – which ranks him 12th in the Coleman Medal – have come at an accuracy of 73.2 per cent. To put that into context, St Kilda’s Tim Membrey (who is eight in the Coleman race with 32 goals) is the next best from the competition’s top 15 goalkickers with an accuracy of 64 per cent.
Coleman Medal leader Jeremy Cameron is shooting at 50 per cent and current runner up Ben Brown is only marginally better at 55.4 per cent.
Remarkably, Himmelberg has scored just 10 behinds and had one shot not score at all from 41 attempts.
One aspect of Himmelberg’s game that proves he’s amongst the competition’s elite is when he’s helping his teammates.
The Wagga Wagga product is leading the competition for goal assists in 2019 with Himmelberg setting up his teammates for 24 goals.
That’s six clear of teammate Brent Daniels and Geelong Forward Tom Hawkins in second place while Jeremy Finlayson sits just behind with 17 goal assists.
Twice in Saturday’s win over Collingwood Himmelberg set up teammates, with his handball to Dawson Simpson the most selfless of the two.
The 194cm GIANT is also ranked equal-11th in the competition for marks inside forward 50 and is inside the competition’s top 20 for score involvements with 108 – GIANT Jeremy Cameron leads the competition with 134.
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