GIANTS star Chris Thorman is hoping being made captain will help him hit top form.
The 24-year-old will lead out Huddersfield for the first time tomorrow in the massive Super League showdown against world champions Leeds Rhinos at the Galpharm Stadium (3.00).
The inspirational goalkicking stand-off takes over the captaincy from the injured Ben Roarty, who is out for at least a month with a rib injury.
Thorman is expected to slot easily into the role, with his midfield influence having already shone through in his side's first three Super League X clashes.
But the Newcastle-born England international believes he has still to reach his peak.
And he is hoping that leading out the Giants against the best club side in the world tomorrow will provide the extra spark.
"It's going to be a great feeling leading out the team, and I can't think of a better game to be doing so than at home to Leeds Rhinos," said Thorman.
"I just hope that it inspires me to raise my game an extra level.
"Off the field, everything has been awesome.
"But on it, I believe I've been pretty solid and I would have liked to have contributed more.
"There's been nothing much wrong with my goalkicking and in the first three games I've only missed three kicks.
"In general play, I want to do more, hopefully starting tomorrow.
"We know that we all need to be at our very best to match Leeds tomorrow. They are obiously an outstanding side.
"But we're confident of giving them a really good game.
"The crucial things is to make sure we don't get off to another slow start, because against Hull and St Helens that killed us.
"We know that if we're not switched on straight away against Leeds we'll be asking for trouble.
"If we can keep them out early, it could be a very interesting afternoon."
Thorman admits that Roarty will be a big loss as captain.
But the former Parramatta Eels star is confident the Giants can overcome his loss in front of a possible five-figure crowd.
"Roarts is a great leader and gives us the ideal lead up front," he added.
"In that sense he's almost impossible to replace.
"But we showed against St Helens last Friday night that we have the ability to overcome the loss of a key player.
"He was off after about 10 minutes, but we went on to give Saints a real fright.
"We would obviously rather have had him out there. But our fightback shows we can match the top sides, and we aim to do it again tomorrow."
