JAMES Harmes says he’s has the belief to back up his outstanding performance against St Kilda for the rest of the season.
Harmes was dynamic in the opening term of Melbourne’s 24-point win, booting three goals and taking a hanger. But it was his energy, ability to present and convert, which was a critical reason for Melbourne’s 32-point lead at the first change.
The likeable youngster said it was now important to keep his form going for the rest of the season.
“Goody (Simon Goodwin) spoke to me during the week and said I’d play predominantly forward this week, which is good because I’ve been getting thrown around a little bit and it’s hard to get settled,” he told Melbourne TV.
“I’m hoping for the rest of the year I can play forward and it gives me great confidence to go for my marks and finish my goals.
“I was lucky enough to kick a few in the first quarter and that was just work rate from my teammates opening the ground up and allowing me to get into good positions. I was lucky to have a lick of the ice cream there, so it was good.”
When asked if his hanger over St Kilda’s Jake Carlisle was “up there” as the best mark he’s taken in the AFL, Harmes couldn’t hide his delight.
“It’d be up there,” he said with a smile.
“I’m pretty happy with it.”
Moreover, Harmes said Melbourne’s ability to stand up under pressure in the final term – when St Kilda came back from a 40-point deficit and got to within four points – was due to the character of the group.
“We got challenged in the last quarter and it was great to stand up when we got challenged,” he said.
“We’ve got to take every game like it’s a Grand Final at the moment, so we went into the game knowing it’s going to be a big challenge – to get the result, we were really happy.
“Goody spoke to us about winning contested ball and we know if we do that we usually go pretty close to winning. We just got back into cracking in and winning our contested ball and tackling, and the rest of our game flowed from that.”’
Meanwhile, Harmes said the return of teammate Angus Brayshaw was a great lift for the team.
“I thought Angus was outstanding across half-back,” he said.
“It’s great to see him back playing AFL footy and it’s been a tough year for him, so hopefully he can take that form in, in the next couple of games, which are really important.”
