Bobby Hill pinching himself during GWS Giants' AFL journey

But the 19-year-old's pre-match superstition does little to settle the butterflies to which he has grown accustomed during his rookie season in the AFL.

For every time the GWS Giants rookie looks around the sheds he finds himself thinking "far out, I was just watching these blokes last year".

Some of Australian football's finest are now his teammates, and together they will hunt for back-to-back wins in Canberra when the Giants host the Hawthorn Hawks at Manuka Oval on Friday night.

Hill has come a long way from being a starstruck kid that wore his Giants jumper from the draft in Melbourne the whole way home to Perth.

Back when he was living a few good drop punts away from Lathlain Park in Perth's inner east, where the family had relocated from Northam in a bid to help Hill realise his dream.

Back when he would call his cousins and Fremantle stars Bradley and Stephen Hill for advice about life as a professional footballer.

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Hill still has those moments where he can't quite believe he is an AFL player, but week by week he is proving he belongs.

"I just go out and do my own thing. I asked Bradley [for advice] before I got drafted, but now it's about doing my own thing," Hill said.

"You've got two boys like Jeremy Finlayson and Zac Williams, then you've got Stephen Coniglio, Josh Kelly, Toby Greene, all those boys really help me out.

"It's really good. You get good pointers from them. Sometimes you pinch yourself thinking 'far out, I was just watching these blokes last year playing on TV and now you're playing alongside them'.

"The first game, making your debut, it's a bit nerve-wracking. In the first five minutes you're out there you're blowing pretty hard.

"But that's the only time I really thought to myself 'it's really happening'."

He would kick three goals on debut against Richmond and has since played a role in the Giants' three-match winning streak.

It has them knocking on the door of the top four heading into their second Friday night game in the capital - during which they will be greeted by almost subzero temperatures.

The Hawks clash kicks off the Giants' run of three games against sides outside the top eight to close out the regular season.

First come Hawthorn and Western Bulldogs sides fighting to keep their fading finals hopes alive. Following them is a Gold Coast Suns outfit anchored to the bottom and bound for a wooden spoon.

But Hill is refusing to rest on his laurels with a top four spot on the horizon.

"The teams we play aren't where we are, but you still can't have that mindset going in thinking we're going to win easily," Hill said.

"We've just got to go in there and play Giants footy, and crack in."

AFL ROUND 21

Friday: GWS Giants v Hawthorn Hawks at Manuka Oval, 7.50pm. Tickets available from Ticketek.