Player Watch #5 Isaac Heeney: 2024 All Australian

[Kennedy Parker]

Isaac Heeney

Isaac Heeney

5

Isaac Heeney

Age

28

Ht

185cm

Wt

88kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

18.2

5star

K

10.4

4star

HB

7.7

5star

M

4.9

5star

T

4.1

5star

CL

2.2

4star

D

14.3

3star

K

8.8

4star

HB

5.5

3star

M

4.8

4star

T

2.5

3star

CL

0.8

3star

D

10.4

3star

K

7.2

3star

HB

3.2

3star

M

2.8

3star

T

2.4

4star

CL

0.8

3star

is a crowd favourite and one of the best young players in the competition. The QBE Sydney Swans Academy graduate won the 2018 AFL Mark of the Year award, was selected in the AFL Players’ Association’s 22Under22 team in two of his eligible four years and played his 100th senior game in 2019. Heeney can be used in the midfield, forward line – where he booted four goals in star teammate Lance Franklin’s absence in Round 20 last year – or as a loose man in defence.

Isaac Heeney

5

Isaac Heeney

Age

28

Ht

185cm

Wt

88kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

18.2

5star

K

10.4

4star

HB

7.7

5star

M

4.9

5star

T

4.1

5star

CL

2.2

4star

D

14.3

3star

K

8.8

4star

HB

5.5

3star

M

4.8

4star

T

2.5

3star

CL

0.8

3star

D

10.4

3star

K

7.2

3star

HB

3.2

3star

M

2.8

3star

T

2.4

4star

CL

0.8

3star

DOB: 05 May 1996
DEBUT: 2015
DRAFT: #18, 2014 National Draft
RECRUITED FROM: Cardiff (NSW)

Isaac Heeney | AFL

Follow Isaac Heeney's progress through AFL

www.sydneyswans.com.au

 

[Heeney2Franklin]

With all due respect I'm probably the wrong person to talk to about this. There's not one fibre of my being that cares about the Brownlow.

The players do your profile goes up considerably not to mention sponsorship deals etc

 

[the hypnotoad]

I am struggling to think of a precedent for the kind of season Heeney has had as a player.

For me it's not just about the marvel that he's been on the field - the many herculean performances, the many highlights, the incredible work rate - but also what he's done for us as a club in general. The eyeballs he's drawn to the screen, the bums he's put on seats, the respect of neutrals he's brought in, is crazy.

Buddy was box office, but he was a polarising and not always popular personality. Dusty was great, but gave the fans and the media little to work with. Bontempelli is on his way, but he's poised and cerebral. Heeney - if only for this year - has been on their level, but is so damn likeable and charismatic. Always smiling, full of character in interviews, humble but confident. He's an absolute joy to get around, and I've heard many neutrals say the same.

Everyone loves Isaac Heeney.

I am not usually drawn to the big names, and I find the concept of repeatedly celebrating the same handful of individuals in what is a team sport asinine and tiresome. But even I get sucked in to the Heeney hype. Largely because I know it is all built on a foundation of my favourite qualities in a footballer - hard work and selflessness. For every brilliant, freakish thing Heeney does, he backs it up with something unseen, something rough and tough that many other quote-unquote superstars would think beneath them.

It makes it very easy to embrace Heeney receiving all the hype in the world, because he deserves it that much. Whatever happens from here on, if I had the chance I'd wanna just say thanks to Isaac for giving us our own piece of history this season that as a club that we'll never forget.

Sorry for the rant.

no rant, great post ... heeney's season surely ranks with any of the greatest individual seasons

 

[liz]

Everyone will marvel - rightly - at the mark. Very few players could even attempt that, let alone pull it off.

But I can’t stop watching that third goal. To have already run from the backline at full pace, have the nous to deal with Whitfield legally, to collect the ball and unleash that perfect kick while still running at full speed…who else could do that?

 

[ashep]

It's pretty amazing to hear Horse talk about Heeney. He doesn't talk about the talent which is apparent to everyone, but focuses on his toughness, workrate, his ability to lift again and again and again throughout the game. The way he says it you can tell he's genuinely in awe of what he's doing.

 

[the hypnotoad]

It's pretty amazing to hear Horse talk about Heeney. He doesn't talk about the talent which is apparent to everyone, but focuses on his toughness, workrate, his ability to lift again and again and again throughout the game. The way he says it you can tell he's genuinely in awe of what he's doing.

geez, aren't we all!?
his relentless running through the late stages of saturday's game surely broke the giants ... that effort to make up about 20 metres to support papley, take possession at pace while fending off whitfield ... you can almost see the exasperation and sense of futility on whitfield's face, thinking "we cannot beat this guy"
and then of course he kicked that goal from 70m or whatever ... not only team-lifting from our point of view, but team-breaking from theirs

 

[caesar88]

Rare Kane Cornes W

Speaks to a very good point I have long believed about what 'talent' is in relation to aussie rules. I think it is too often wrongly conflated with athletic ability.

Heeney, thankfully, is a perfect combination of both.

 

[Callipygian]

B&F - ✔

Best player in the comp right now - ✔

Best player in the comp this year - ✔

Best season by a Swan since?? - at least since our last flag I'd say - ✔

And as others have said, he is a complete player. Can do everything. Offensively and defensively. In the air, on the ground. The flashy stuff, the grunt work. Does all the good stuff other players can do plus adds his own unique abilities on top. He is a GOD.

 

[ashep]

The King! Can you believe the conversations we were having about this bloke just last year?

 

[MF]

Crazy to think only last year so many of us were bemoaning what a huge waste of money and talent he was on the reported 1m a year.

Now he's the best player in the game and looking like an absolute bargain.

 

[The King!]

The King! Can you believe the conversations we were having about this bloke just last year?

He has taken an unbelievable leap in consistently being brilliant rather than flashes.

He has always been one of the toughest to a fault.

He always felt such a tease in so many ways

 

[ashep]

He has taken an unbelievable leap in consistently being brilliant rather than flashes.

He has always been one of the toughest to a fault.

He always felt such a tease in so many ways

Gawn said he's probably been the most improved this year having gone from 10th to up there with Bont for 1st

 

[The King!]

Gawn said he's probably been the most improved this year having gone from 10th to up there with Bont for 1st

Yep man on a mission , love to know
more about the off season, is he just full
time mid , not carrying niggles or is there something else that happened. Like Ablett being told by his teammates he could be their Chris Judd if he trained harder.

Hopefully we win the flag and someone's been doing a behind the scenes doco or book.

 

[ashep]

Crazy to think only last year so many of us were bemoaning what a huge waste of money and talent he was on the reported 1m a year.

Now he's the best player in the game and looking like an absolute bargain.

 

[the hypnotoad]

Rare Kane Cornes W

Speaks to a very good point I have long believed about what 'talent' is in relation to aussie rules. I think it is too often wrongly conflated with athletic ability.

Heeney, thankfully, is a perfect combination of both.

that footage also emphasises what a superb handball it was from papley ... moving in the opposite direction to his support player (heeney), with two defenders coming at him from different angles, in the frantic pressure of that moment, and he delivers it into heeney's hands without "the rolls-royce" having to break stride ...
and that followed papley's lookaway, over-the-shoulder handball for hayward's earlier goal that was also a perfect delivery

 

[MF]

that footage also emphasises what a superb handball it was from papley ... moving in the opposite direction to his support player (heeney), with two defenders coming at him from different angles, in the frantic pressure of that moment, and he delivers it into heeney's hands without "the rolls-royce" having to break stride ...
and that followed papley's lookaway, over-the-shoulder handball for hayward's earlier goal that was also a perfect delivery

Yeah, The love for Heeney (completely justified) has somewhat overshadowed how good Papley and Warner were in that last quarter. Papley had a hand in just about every goal scored and Warner was setting records for clearances. What an epic quarter of football. The rest of the AFL should be shitting themselves at the firepower we're packing in this team.

 

[ashep]

that footage also emphasises what a superb handball it was from papley ... moving in the opposite direction to his support player (heeney), with two defenders coming at him from different angles, in the frantic pressure of that moment, and he delivers it into heeney's hands without "the rolls-royce" having to break stride ...
and that followed papley's lookaway, over-the-shoulder handball for hayward's earlier goal that was also a perfect delivery

Then followed by a third to Amartey. Absurd skills from Paps!

 

[caesar88]

Yeah, The love for Heeney (completely justified) has somewhat overshadowed how good Papley and Warner were in that last quarter. Papley had a hand in just about every goal scored and Warner was setting records for clearances. What an epic quarter of football. The rest of the AFL should be shitting themselves at the firepower we're packing in this team.

I actually think the efforts of many in the last quarter - not just those you mentioned, but also Campbell, Florent, Jordon, Gulden, Grundy... many came to the party in that last term - have overshadowed the heroics of guys like Lloyd, Cunningham, Rowbottom and, again, Heeney, in the first three quarters.

There are two sides to every comeback - restricting a margin enough for it to be surmountable, and then surmounting said margin.

Whilst it was very nice that the overwhelming majority of the team decided to have their best quarters for the game in the final quarter - when, it should be noted, GWS looked absolutely cooked - none of it would have been possible without a much smaller group of players standing up in the first three quarters to at least keep the game alive for us.

 

[the hypnotoad]

I actually think the efforts of many in the last quarter - not just those you mentioned, but also Campbell, Florent, Jordon, Gulden, Grundy... many came to the party in that last term - have overshadowed the heroics of guys like Lloyd, Cunningham, Rowbottom and, again, Heeney, in the first three quarters.

There are two sides to every comeback - restricting a margin enough for it to be surmountable, and then surmounting said margin.

Whilst it was very nice that the overwhelming majority of the team decided to have their best quarters for the game in the final quarter - when, it should be noted, GWS looked absolutely cooked - none of it would have been possible without a much smaller group of players standing up in the first three quarters to at least keep the game alive for us.

blakey and mcdonald were two others who had their moments in that last quarter
and you don't need to sell me in on rowbottom ... he's just one more who'd be lauded a superstar if he played for a victorian team ... almost certainly an all australian

 

[caesar88]

blakey and mcdonald were two others who had their moments in that last quarter
and you don't need to sell me in on rowbottom ... he's just one more who'd be lauded a superstar if he played for a victorian team ... almost certainly an all australian

McDonald's work rate was enormous. I could be imagining things but I feel like there have been so many games this year where he might've been quiet for a lot of it but got himself into the game to at least have an impact through working up the ground tirelessly. It's a very handy asset to have on a quiet day.

 

[The King!]

For everyone shitting on Mills with some element of validity, without his third we don't win

 

[the hypnotoad]

McDonald's work rate was enormous. I could be imagining things but I feel like there have been so many games this year where he might've been quiet for a lot of it but got himself into the game to at least have an impact through working up the ground tirelessly. It's a very handy asset to have on a quiet day.

i still think he cops unfair criticism, some of it from the mainstream media that suggests they don't pay attention to either his work rate or the little skill things he does, and just look at the stats for goals and marks (although that happens a bit on this board too)

 

[Kiama Chris]

Gawn said he's probably been the most improved this year having gone from 10th to up there with Bont for 1st

He's a more complete player than Bont at the moment. Brings others into the game more. Runs harder. Makes Naicos look like a precocious child. They're very good players but he's next level.

 

[bedford]

That mark should end up being a statue outside the SCG in the future

 

[Nuggetz]

He's gone super saiyan

 

[Nuggetz]

A young Heeney, he's spot on with the clean hands comment.