AFL 2024: Brad Scott makes the comparison between Archie Perkins and a young Isaac Heeney

Sydney star Isaac Heeney was the best player on the MCG on Friday night. The next day on the same ground, Archie Perkins produced similar – and his coach has drawn comparison.

Essendon coach Brad Scott says Archie Perkins can emulate Sydney superstar Isaac Heeney but he won’t commit to a permanent on-ball role for the 21-year-old after his stellar round 1 performance.

Scott said the Bombers still had confidence in Zach Reid’s body after the key defender was subbed out with hamstring tightness at halftime, as he praised his side’s problem-solving in a 24-point win over Hawthorn on Saturday.

Reid’s hamstring issue, which Scott said would be “on the minor end” of the scale if there was any damage, forced Nik Cox deeper into defence and could force a rethink of the coach’s defensive plans given the caution around Reid’s injury history.

“We don’t know yet, is the short answer, but what we do know is he came off with a tight hamstring – (the medical team) couldn’t rule him out in that time, so they needed time at halftime, so that tells me it’s a tight hamstring … there may be some very minor damage,” Scott said after the match.

“I think Reidy’s injury history is pretty well documented, so in the end I just took it out of their hands, we’re just going to sub him and take the cautious approach.”

Archie Perkins starred against the Hawks on Saturday. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Experienced backman Jayden Laverde is waiting in the wings if Reid is not cleared to face Sydney next week, and played in a VFL practice match on Saturday alongside Dylan Shiel, Sam Draper and Ben Hobbs.

Draper will almost certainly be recalled to partner Todd Goldstein in the SCG clash if he emerges from the game unscathed, after key forward Harrison Jones had no impact against the Hawks with four disposals.

Scott said Sydney would provide a clear indication of how his side is developing as he said he wanted to achieve the same kind of flexibility the Swans had with their fleet of hybrid midfielder-forwards.

Sydney’s Isaac Heeney might be leading the Brownlow count after two rounds. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

He compared Perkins to Heeney over the debate around where the duo were best used, although he said the Bombers’ No. 9 pick still had a long way to go to catch up to the star Swan.

Perkins was the Bombers’ best with 24 disposals, eight clearances and two goals, but his midfield role came without a contribution from Jake Stringer and in the absence of Darcy Parish.

“I heard John Longmire talk about Isaac Heeney … he’s an All-Australian forward, but he’s clearly dominating through the midfield,” Scott said.

“I think Isaac’s now 27 … Perks has got a fair way to go to sort of replicate what Isaac is doing, but he’s a similar type in terms of we really like him forward but we like him in the midfield too.

“We know Stringer can (play in the middle), we know Caldwell and Perkins can do it … what we’re trying to do is build flexibility, so at different stages of the game we can pull different levers.”

Originally published as AFL 2024: Brad Scott makes the comparison between Archie Perkins and a young Isaac Heeney