The return of a freakish forward has helped the GIANTS put together one of the most efficient forward lines in the competition and overcome the loss of its all-time leading goalkicker.
Steve Johnson played 40 games for the GIANTS in 2016-17, spent a few years at Sydney and returned to the GIANTS after Jeremy Cameron departed the club in last year’s NAB AFL Trade Period.
But rather than taking over Cameron’s role out of the goal square, Johnson arrived to coach a forward group entering a season without the 2019 Coleman medallist for the first time in the club’s existence.
Under the guidance of a line coach who is as creative now as he was as a player, the group centred around Toby Greene, Harry Himmelberg and Jeremy Finlayson has become one of the most efficient in the League.
Although the GIANTS only move the ball into their forward 50 an average of 50.3 times a game (13th in the League) they are scoring with an impressive 51.5 per cent of those entries. Only Western Bulldogs (52.3 per cent) have a better scoring strike rate once inside 50.
"Steve came in with a fresh perspective and that’s built on years playing as a clever, medium forward. He just has a different and even unique way of viewing the game,” Himmelberg told AFL.com.au.
"Rather than just showing vision he's the sort of coach that will show us on the training track what to do. Sometimes he pulls up a bit sore from our sessions because he does a lot of demonstrating.
"He's obviously played a long career with plenty of games and a lot of goals, so he does like to lead by example as far as showing the boys what to do. He just knows the game so well.”
Between Johnson’s playing and coaching stints at the GIANTS, he spent three years at the Swans in a coaching role, learning his new craft and expanding his understanding of the game.
But he continues to encourage the GIANTS’ forward group to play with a creative style he preferred across 293 games (including 253 for Geelong) and while kicking 516 career goals.
Some ongoing concerns for Johnson and the forward group are the low number of marks they take inside 50 (9.6 a game, ranked 17th) and their pressure once the ball hits the deck with an average of only eight tackles inside 50 (ranked 16th).
"As a forward line we have to be good at that instinctive play. Stevie knows we've got a bit of flair but harps on about really good forward lines starting with great defence,” Himmelberg said.
"He loves to joke around at training, he still kicks ridiculous goals and tells us how good he is, which lightens the mood at times.
“But he can switch from that really laidback coach to being really stern really quickly. He can focus us in and gain our attention when something isn't working at training and especially on gameday.”
The 25-year-old Himmelberg is having perhaps his most consistent season yet and has kicked 18 goals from 13 matches.
Many of those majors have come from set shot snap kicks that Johnson played a huge part in introducing to the game and Himmelberg has since mastered.
Earlier this year Champion Data revealed that no current player has better accuracy than Himmelberg nailing 75 per cent of his set shot snaps for goal.
"The snap is something I grew up practicing. I got in a lot of trouble when I was a junior for trying to kick around the corner all the time, but it's a skill I've built over the years and now I'm very comfortable with it,” Himmelberg said.
"Stevie is really big on us getting lots of shots in at training, similar to a basketballer. We do get held back a bit with the sports science view on how many shots to take in training, but Stevie pushes hard for us to get more shots in. He’s got our back.”
