Emerging GIANTS midfielder Harry Rowston has shared his excitement at playing alongside boom recruit Clayton Oliver as the star midfielder joined his new teammates for his first official session as a GIANT.
A three-time All Australian and 2021 premiership star for the Demons, Oliver played 205 games in red and blue before recently landing at the GIANTS in exchange for a future third-round pick.
Rowston, who put forward a career-best campaign in 2025, said Oliver was quick to make an impression as he joined the club’s second to fourth year players for their first day of pre-season at the club on Monday.
“I mean he’s a beast isn’t he,” Rowston said of his new star teammate.
“He just finds the footy and his running patterns and things like that [are elite].
“I can’t wait to watch vison with him and pick his brain about what it takes to be an elite midfielder like himself. So I’m pretty keen to get in there and learn as much as I can off him.”
While Oliver’s addition means more competition for spots for the likes of Rowston, the 21-year-old said the gun midfielder’s arrival is nothing but a positive for him and the club.
“It’s only going to improve the team and myself,” Rowston said of Oliver.
“Obviously it’s another midfielder in the team but if I can’t play in the midfield then I’ll try and find somewhere else to play. It’s just going to be a great learning experience to pick his brain and learn as much as I can, so it’s only going to better the club.”
Rowston added that the addition of the four-time Demons best and fairest winner and two-time Coaches Association Player of the Year winner is a clear sign that the GIANTS are becoming a destination club.
“With the young core that we’ve got, I think people from other clubs are starting to see we are going to be a good club for a long time and that’s why people are wanting to come here.
“The culture at this club is so good and that’s why I think people are starting to look at us as a destination club. Players can get out of Melbourne and get out of the headlines a little bit and get up to Sydney and be part of such a good club up here – I think we are really starting to put our name out there as a destination club to come to.”
Turning his attention to his own game, Rowston was thrilled to recently sign a new two-year contract extension to keep him at the club until the end of the 2028 AFL season.
“It’s why I signed on, because I love it here so much. There was no temptation to go anywhere else. I love the club and love what we are building.”
Rowston’s new deal came following the best season to date for the tough midfielder who played nine straight games in the back half of the season after breaking into the side for his first senior game in almost two years.
“I think confidence is everything in this game,” Rowston said.
“A little but of confidence does wonders for everyone so to be able to get that and go out there and play my natural game with the confidence that I got definitely helped me.
“It was a good year for me to sort of get a bit of comfortability within the team; I played a few good games which was nice.
“Obviously I would have loved to have been playing in the team in September but to play a few nice games and to know that I’m good enough to be at the level really had my motivation levels high in my off-season training and I feel I’ve done everything I can heading into pre-season and I’m looking forward to next year.”
While many of the club’s more senior players featured at the club on Monday alongside the second to fourth year players, the five-year plus players will officially join their teammates next Monday as the whole squad comes together for the first time.
