The AFL finals moment: Inside Isaac Heeney’s qualifying final matchwinning brilliance

When Sydney needed saving, it turned to Isaac Heeney. Then when it needed a matchwinner, Heeney soared again. LACHLAN MCKIRDY breaks down his qualifying final heroics.

Never has so much expectation rested on one pair of hands at the SCG.

The famous ground has seen some of the best athletes in the world put their names up in lights, both with a Sherrin and a six-stitcher. Fans sitting on the edge of their seats in anticipation for a moment they will tell their grandkids about.

And when the Swans needed inspiration the most in their qualifying final, it was only appropriate that it was one of their first local Sydney boys who rose tallest.

Isaac Heeney, the lad out of Cardiff and one of the first graduates of Sydney’s Academy, has been the benchmark of consistency all year — a second All-Australian blazer recognition of a season where his return to the midfield unlocked career-best form.

But he saved his pinnacle for one of the best games of footy you will ever see. And produced one of the best individual performances in a final you will ever see.

Despite being the dominant team all year, the Swans looked out on the canvas. In the first half, they were completely swarmed by a Giants side that not only thought they could spoil the party, but believed they would.

GO INSIDE THE MOMENT WITH LACHY MCKIRDY IN THE VIDEO ABOVE

Isaac Heeney celebrates bringing the scores level during the last quarter. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

It was the story of two systems. A side waiting for moments of individual brilliance against a team that had complete trust that their game plan was their greatest strength.

The Giants raced out to a 28-point lead just before the main break. In reality, it should have been greater. Their relentless pressure tormented the Swans who couldn’t take a step without a GWS player breathing down the neck.

Combined with incredible efficiency going forward, headlined by Coleman Medallist Jesse Hogan, the gulf in class looked insurmountable in the early exchanges. One team simply wanted it more.

But with a couple of minutes to go in the second quarter, it was Heeney who decided to have his say. His intensity had already lifted throughout the term, buzzing around for handball receives and eyeing off the corridor in attack.

In one of their rare counter-attacks, Heeney found a slither of separation from Harry Perryman. Falling to his feet, he stuck his right hand out and took a grab that Mark Waugh would have been proud of in the cordon.

It was Sydney’s first mark inside 50 for the match. They had been stifled by the Giants’ resolute defence and couldn’t create any space up forward. Heeney showed them it was possible.

As he snapped truly around the body, the crowd rose as one. The Swans might have still been 22 points in arrears, but suddenly they had belief.

The 15-minute break that followed was exactly what Sydney needed. With John Longmire’s words ringing in their ears, a different team emerged from the race and with renewed vigour for the contest.

Yet again, it was Heeney who looked around to his teammates and said, ‘Follow me’.

A physics-defying mark over the head of Jack Buckley was the spark. Heeney launched through the air and claimed the ball at its highest point. A full 360-degree rotation gave the photographers enough time to capture the moment in all its glory.

Heeney crashes back to earth after his hanger over Jack Buckley. Picture: Matt King/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

But Heeney wasn’t done. He worked tirelessly through the midfield and put together another quarter to remember. His willingness to get forward, despite blood flowing from his nose after a headclash, to mark and goal was the latest indicator that he needed his teammates to come with him.

In fact, Heeney played the last quarter and a half of the match with a broken nose from the incident. But nothing was going to stop him from taking the game by the scruff of the neck.

“Just had it straightened, it’s the sixth time I’ve broken it,” Heeney told media post-game.

“Broke it out there in the tackle. It was alright, it’s pretty desensitized at the moment, it’s been broken six times and I’ve had surgery on it a couple of times.

“(The doctor’s) done it multiple times after a game, so I’m kind of used to it these days. It’s still a little bit crooked. He’s just cracked it back in.”

The Swans had the running, yet the Giants had the answers. All the momentum seemed to be with the team in red and white but by three-quarter time, the margin remained at 21 points

Finally, in the last quarter, Heeney’s efforts encouraged his teammates to produce some incredible magic of their own.

Nick Blakey’s remarkable spoil over Brent Daniels saved what looked like a certain score. James Jordon’s effort play to set up a goal for Braeden Campbell was exactly the reason John Longmire brought him to the club. And Tom Papley’s ability to create a contest and bring the ball to ground finally troubled a Giants defence that looked inimitable all night.

Heeney kept Sydney in the match before stepping up in the last quarter. Picture: Phil Hillyard.

But of course, it was Heeney who had to have the final say. Staring down a fourth-straight finals loss to GWS, he looked up at the vacant goalsquare in front of him with three minutes to go.

He launched one from the cricket pitch, that bounced end over end and trickled over the line. It brought the scores level and sent the SCG into raptures, a moment only Heeney could deliver.

As David King put it on Fox Footy, “There’s not a kid in the land that doesn’t want to be Isaac Heeney right now.”

Joel Amartey had the privilege of kicking the matchwinning goal not long after with a brilliant dribble from the pocket. It was the first time Sydney led since the fifth-minute of the first quarter.

Yet make no mistake, this was Isaac Heeney’s moment.

Three goals. 32 disposals. 18 contested possessions. Seven clearances. Eight score involvements. Five tackles.

If he wasn’t already, Isaac Heeney wrote his name into Swans folklore and ensured the minor premiers are in the box seat to return to the grand final and win their first premiership since 2012.