By Vince Rugari
Isaac Heeney. And, to a slightly lesser extent, Brodie Grundy.
That’s it. That’s all you need to know from this contest at the SCG.
Isaac Heeney of the Swans celebrates a goal.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
This game will be instantly forgotten, but not their performances - one of which goes straight into footy’s hypothetical Louvre.
As a team, Sydney did what they had to do and nothing more on Saturday evening, easing past North Melbourne by 31 points to remain in mathematical finals contention.
The 12.12 (84) to 7.11 (53) result was satisfactory. But more will be needed from the Swans in the coming weeks if they are to do the improbable and leap into the top eight and salvage what has been a dicey first season under Dean Cox - especially as the calibre of their opposition improves, starting with Friday night’s Sydney derby against the Giants.
For that to happen, the Swans need to lift to the immaculate level set by Heeney and Grundy, rather than hoping they can carry them there.
Brodie Grundy celebrates an Errol Gulden goal by shaking hands.Credit: for Getty Images
Words could suffice, but in this case, numbers are better, because Heeney’s stats line almost sounds like a line from 12 Days of Christmas. Heeney had 34 disposals - the most of any player on the ground, and five more than the next best - to go with 13 clearances, 11 score involvements, nine inside 50s, eight marks, five tackles and an equal-career best five goals. There was probably a partridge in a pear tree in there somewhere, too.
No player has ever recorded 12 or more clearances plus five goals in a game since Champion Data began recording AFL statistics in 1999. Very rarely do you see players carve it up to this extent.
“I’ve seen a few of his [best games] … it’s hard to rank them because there’s a fair few of them,” Cox said.
“He delivers time after time for this football club. I don’t think anyone can speak highly enough of what he contributes. And he’s done it week-in, week-out for a long time. On ball, ahead of the ball.
“He’s an unbelievable footballer.”
It was Heeney’s third goal, coming 30 seconds into the final quarter after a strange and goalless third term from the Swans, that essentially ended North’s remote chances of victory. He kicked two more after that.
He wanted more, too; when he was taken off after his fifth, he complained to Cox and the rest of Sydney’s bench about the decision and pointed behind him on the field as if to say, ‘Get me back on!’ - as if he’d left a single thing undone out there.
“He wanted to obviously stay out, being the competitor he is. And my job is to make sure he’s as fresh as possible for Friday night,” Cox said.
If Heeney had an all-timer, Grundy was on course for one - only for Cox’s interchange decisions to leave him hanging.
Grundy looked a real shot at breaking the VFL/AFL record for hitouts in a game (80) but was rested for a decent chunk of the second half. Though he fell short, his haul of 62 was still good enough to rank equal 18th on the all-time leaderboard.
Most of the day, he rucked against Brynn Teakle, playing his 18th game of AFL football, after a calf injury struck down Callum Coleman-Jones in the first half. North were already without the suspended Tristan Xerri.
Many of his hitouts led to clearances - some for Heeney, some for others, some for himself. He had 11, as well as 22 possessions, to continue his incredibly rich vein of form. A third All-Australian blazer surely awaits.
“Grundy’s the form ruckman in the competition at the minute,” said North coach Alastair Clarkson.
“And then we lost Big CJ in the first ten minutes of the game with a calf injury, so that just meant we were overwhelmed by his dominance over the course of the game … it was hard for our midfielders to try to predict exactly what was going on with the ball when they had that type of hitout advantage over the course of the game.”