PACY North Melbourne forward Leigh Harding is all set to make his first regular season appearance after sustaining a knee injury 18 months ago, albeit in a position he’s not so accustomed to.
Harding has been used during the pre-season as a running defender, surprising onlookers who expected the 26-year-old to be operating at the feet of towering forward pair Aaron Edwards and Nathan Thompson, who’s also returning from a knee reconstruction.
The change in position over summer is expected to flow into the season proper, with coach Dean Laidley likely to use the one-time rookie in a sweeper-type role in the early stages of 2008, starting with Monday’s crunch match against Essendon at Telstra Dome.
While Harding admits he loves kicking a goal, he acknowledges a switch to the backline might be what he needs to get his career back on track.
“The change of role has been going pretty well during the pre-season, and I think that’s the way it’s going to be for the majority of the season,” Harding told kangaroos.com.au.
“It’s quite good really; it’s certainly refreshed me after coming back from the injury and it’s offered me a new challenge and I’m learning quite a bit along the way.
“When I first came back I started out on a wing, and then the coach said ‘do you want to go back?’, and I thought about it for a bit and thought I might give it a go, and it’s been pretty positive so far.”
As for the knee, which collapsed during the club’s final training session of the 2006 season, Harding says it’s feeling as good as it’s ever felt since the surgery.
“Obviously it’s been 18 months since the knee was done, so it’s been a fair process and the body finally feels back to what it was before I did my knee so I’m ready to go for a good season,” he said.
“I could feel it getting better and better with every week that passed over summer, and it was just a matter of getting it back to full capacity and regaining that confidence in knowing what the knee’s going to do under pressure.
“Cutting (turning at speed) was the hardest thing to get back, especially at speed, and that’s been the biggest thing confidence wise, but I’ve got that back and it all feels great.”
The nippy ex-Geelong Falcons junior says he never lost faith in his ability to work his way back to the elite level.
“A lot of have people have got through it before it me, and I spoke to a lot of people along the way which was reassuring,” Harding said.
“I knew that every session I was doing in rehab was another step toward getting back and that it was only a matter of time before I was playing footy.”
Often criticised for his goal-kicking, Harding has kicked has a career tally of 123.93, a figure skewed only by his 2003 season where he managed a relatively accurate 33.14.
In his 89 career games, he’s booted three behinds or more 10 times in a single game.
It’s a fact that induces many a cringe from Roos’ fans, but Harding says his less than accurate strike-rate in front of goals wasn’t a reason for the change of position.
“People can criticise you for all sorts of things, but no, I’ve never felt I had any problems around goal,” he said.
“I’m just going back for something different, and we’ll see how we go.”
