And Himmelberg says playing an AFL game at Manuka Oval was "big", after the 20-year-old spent last year training on it every week.

The former Eastlake Demon has played only two AFL games, his third set to be against Richmond at Manuka Oval on Saturday.

But Cameron said the signs looked good for the young defender, especially in front of a rabid 28,000 Port Adelaide supporters at Adelaide Oval last week.

Cameron said Himmelberg's decision-making under pressure had been outstanding, and it boded well he would handle the big stage.

The Giants mentor wasn't surprised with how well Himmelberg had started his career given how well he'd been playing for their reserves in the NEAFL.

"To play really well in his first two games is a great sign, that a player of his age and his status in the game can make really good decisions and composed decisions in interesting situations," Cameron said.

"He's played two away games – he's played in Brisbane and then he played in Port Adelaide where there was a parochial crowd of 30,000 in such a big game.

"For him to make really good decisions at the right has time reinforced his NEAFL form and why we wanted to pick him in last year's draft.

"He's only a couple of games in and time will tell, but what we've seen is he can cope with pressure and he just keeps on keeping on."

Himmelberg said playing in front of the "crazy" Adelaide crowd – the biggest he's ever played in front of – would give him a good grounding for the rest of his career.

He made his debut against the Brisbane Lions the previous week, when he was so excited and nervous the game just flew by.

Himmelberg grew up in Wagga Wagga and moved to Canberra to play for the Demons in the NEAFL last year to enhance his prospects of getting drafted.

The key defender said that time with the Demons made Manuka a special ground for him and he was looking forward to playing AFL there.

"It's pretty big for me. I trained there every week last year. It was really exciting to get off the bus and walk out there today," Himmelberg said.

"In a whole year you make a lot of memories. It's exciting for sure."

Himmelberg said there was a "healthy competition" for spots in a young Giants side that went into the round in second on the ladder.

While he said there was a "really good feeling" at the club, they were still mindful the work was "not done yet".

GWS just need to beat Richmond to realistically guarantee themselves their first finals appearance.

The lure of finals was massive for Himmelberg, who could get to taste September action in his first season.

"We're pretty happy with our position at the moment – having the 12 wins, which is obviously a club record," he said.

"But we're not getting ahead of ourselves at all.

"We've got to win every game we can from now on because you can see the top eight is so tight and the positions in the top four are going to become really important towards the end of the year.

"We're trying not to get ahead of ourselves, but still go out there and try and win every week.

"It's really exciting [to have the chance to play finals in my first season], there's a really good feeling around the club at the moment."

AFL ROUND 19

Saturday: GWS Giants v Richmond at Manuka Oval, 1.45pm. Live on Fox Footy.