A trio of GIANTS have been recognised as future leaders of the club after being added to the GIANTS’ Emerging Leaders group for 2024.
Brent Daniels, Jack Buckley and Toby Bedford join existing members Harry Himmelberg, Isaac Cumming and Lachie Ash as those chosen as the club’s next crop of young leaders.
Identified as potential future leaders of the club, the Emerging Leaders will undertake a range of programs and activities throughout the year to further develop their leadership qualities.
Daniels joins the group after making a remarkable return to the field last season in which he cemented himself as a key cog in the GIANTS’ forward line and one of the competition’s best small forwards. Spending 590 days on the sidelines across the 2021 and 2022 seasons due to consecutive back injuries, Daniels returned with a bang in 2023 to kick 26 goals from 20 games to finish inside the top 10 of the Kevin Sheedy Medal.
Buckley also joins the group following a sensational return from a huge injury lay off. Missing over 600 days of football with a severe ACL injury, the persistent defender returned to the GIANTS’ line-up in 2023 with a breakout campaign to establish himself as one of the competition’s elite one-one-one defenders and a key pillar in the GIANTS’ stingy defence.
The third newcomer to the 2024 Emerging Leaders, Bedford joins the group after an impressive debut season in orange and charcoal last year. Joining the GIANTS from the Demons last summer after four seasons in red and blue, Bedford emerged as one of the AFL’s best pressure players to fit seamlessly into Adam Kingsley’s high-octane game plan.
The trio join Himmelberg, Cumming and Ash to round out the 2024 Emerging Leaders after they were once again recognised for their leadership qualities by teammates and staff.
Adam Kingsley welcomed the three newcomers following the announcement.
“From my perspective, well done to each of these three guys,” Kingsley said.
“The overriding comment I want to make on it, to ‘Binga’ [Daniels], ‘Snooze’ [Bedford], and ‘Bucks’ [Buckley], is that you don’t need to do anything different, you just need to be who you are.
“You don’t need to change and think that all of a sudden I’m an Emerging Leader so I have got to act differently. Just be yourselves and do what you do, because that was a big part as to why the leadership group and Jason [McCartney] and ‘Monty’ [Assistant Coach Brent Montgomery] felt like you should be included in the group.
“We will keep supporting you so you can continue to develop, well done guys.”
The Emerging Leaders announcement comes following the GIANTS’ leadership group announcement on Thursday, with Toby Greene to lead the club yet again in 2024.
