Isaac Heeney (born 5 May 1996) is a professional
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
er playing with the
Sydney Swans in the
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...
.
Early life
Heeney was born in
Maitland, New South Wales to mother Rochelle and father Adam. He grew up in the
Hunter Region. He received primary level education at Black Hill Public School in
Black Hill. He then attended
All Saints College. He began playing soccer at the age of 7
and managed to kick 68 goals in 12 games. Shortly after he picked up a cricket bat and played an age level above his own. He had a batting average of 216.
He also travelled with his school to compete in a Sydney rugby league tournament and scored 5 tries in his team's grand final victory.
Heeney played his junior football for th
Cardiff Hawksin the
Black Diamond Australian Football League
The AFL Hunter Central Coast is an Australian rules football competition in the Newcastle, Hunter Region and Central Coast regions of New South Wales.
The Black Diamond Australian Football league was formed in 2000 and ran until the end of t ...
. A highly rated junior player, he joined the Sydney Swans' academy at the age of 12 years
before completing his education at
Waverley College
, motto_translation = Virtue alone ennobles
, location = 131 Birrell Street
, city = Waverley, New South Wales
, country = Australia
, coordinates =
, type = Independent early learn ...
in Sydney while playing for the Swans Academy
Heeney later revealed he was the only student throughout his entire schooling that played Australian rules football and would have quit in favour of rugby league had the Swans' academy not existed.
He grew up supporting the Swans and idolised
Ryan O'Keefe
Ryan O'Keefe (born 24 January 1981) is a former professional Australian rules footballer with the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL), and was part of the Swans' 2005 and 2012 premiership-winning sides.
O'Keefe was a membe ...
as a child.
AFL career
Heeney was selected by the Swans in the
2014 AFL draft
The 2014 AFL draft consists of the various periods where the 18 clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL) can trade and recruit players following the completion of the 2014 AFL season. Additions to each club's playing list are not allowed ...
. His selection was controversial in that the
Melbourne Football Club bid their first selection, number 2 overall, for Heeney but under drafting rules at the time, the Swans were able to match with their first selection, which was 18th overall.
As a result of this, and the similar round based bidding process used for
father–son rule
The father–son rule is a rule that allows clubs preferential recruiting access to the sons of players who have made a major past contribution to the club in Australian rules football, most notably in the Australian Football League.
The rule ...
selections, the draft criteria were changed to a points based system to provide for a more equitable outcome.
Heeney made his debut for Sydney at
ANZ Stadium
ANZ may refer to:
People
* Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician
Banks
* ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia
** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand
* ...
against
Essendon Essendon may refer to:
Australia
*Electoral district of Essendon
*Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington
* Essendon, Victoria
**Essendon railway station
**Essendon Airport
* Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League
United Ki ...
in Round 1 of the
2015 season.
He kicked his first AFL goal, which was also the match-winning goal and last in the match, late in the final quarter as the Swans came from 41 points down in the third quarter to win by 12 points. Following a 4-goal performance at the
Sydney Cricket Ground in round 3, Heeney picked up an
AFL Rising Star
The AFL Rising Star is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best young player in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the year. It was first presented in the 1993 season, and was won by Nathan Buc ...
nomination as the Swans got off to an unbeaten start in the
2015 season.
After a promising start to his season, Heeney suffered a knee injury in Round 6. He returned to the team in Round 17, kicking 2 goals and having an instant impact on the team. Heeney played out the remainder of the season, including in the team's finals games. He was named as the Sydney Swans' rising star after kicking 16 goals and averaging 12.6 disposals.
Heeney had a successful
2016 AFL season, playing every game except for rounds 16 and 17. Heeney set a new personal record for disposals in the opening round, collecting 23. He had a breakout game in Round 4, kicking 4 important goals and collecting 18 disposals, being named as one of Sydney's best on ground. He had one of the best games in his career in Round 7, where he kicked a bag of 5, his highest goal tally to that point. He received 3 Brownlow votes for his performance.
Heeney suffered a season ending injury in the Swans' 8 point loss to in the 6th round of the
2020 AFL season, after dislocating and rupturing his medial ligament in his right ankle. He had surgery soon after which kept him confined to a moon boot for a few weeks after the completion of the surgery. He also underwent stem cell treatment to help with the healing of his cartilage that had been removed during the operation.
Statistics
''Updated to the end of the 2022 season''.
, -
,
2015 , , , , 5
, 14 , , 16 , , 10 , , 120 , , 57 , , 177 , , 67 , , 44 , , 1.1 , , 0.7 , , 8.6 , , 4.1 , , 12.6 , , 4.8 , , 3.1 , , 2
, -
,
2016 , , , , 5
, 24 , , 28 , , 15 , , 218 , , 180 , , 398 , , 113 , , 92 , , 1.2 , , 0.6 , , 9.1 , , 7.5 , , 16.6 , , 4.7 , , 3.8 , , 5
, -
,
2017 , , , , 5
, 20 , , 16 , , 13 , , 250 , , 161 , , 411 , , 100 , , 95 , , 0.8 , , 0.7 , , 12.5 , , 8.1 , , 20.6 , , 5.0 , , 4.8 , , 4
, -
,
2018 , , , , 5
, 22 , , 19 , , 14 , , 248 , , 200 , , 448 , , 99 , , 111 , , 0.9 , , 0.6 , , 11.3 , , 9.1 , , 20.4 , , 4.5 , , 5.0 , , 7
, -
,
2019 , , , , 5
, 22 , , 26 , , 15 , , 237 , , 204 , , 441 , , 126 , , 85 , , 1.2 , , 0.7 , , 10.8 , , 9.3 , , 20.6 , , 5.7 , , 3.9 , , 6
, -
,
2020 , , , , 5
, 6 , , 7 , , 7 , , 53 , , 33 , , 86 , , 29 , , 15 , , 1.2 , , 1.2 , , 8.8 , , 5.5 , , 14.3 , , 4.8 , , 2.5 , , 5
, -
,
2021 , , , , 5
, 21 , , 36 , , 21 , , 222 , , 111 , , 333 , , 119 , , 41 , , 1.7 , , 1.0 , , 10.5 , , 5.2 , , 15.8 , , 5.6 , , 1.9 , , 8
, -
,
2022 , , , , 5
, 25 , , 49 , , 28 , , 251 , , 159 , , 410 , , 117 , , 118 , , 2.0 , , 1.1 , , 10.0 , , 6.4 , , 16.4 , , 4.7 , , 4.7 , , 7
, - class=sortbottom
! colspan=3 , Career
! 154 !! 197 !! 123 !! 1599 !! 1105 !! 2704 !! 770 !! 601 !! 1.3 !! 0.8 !! 10.4 !! 7.2 !! 17.6 !! 5.0 !! 3.9 !! 44
Honours and achievements
Team
*
McClelland Trophy
The McClelland Trophy is an Australian rules football trophy which has been awarded each year since 1951 by the Australian Football League (known prior to 1990 as the Victorian Football League) to the best-performing club in the home-and-away sea ...
():
2016
Individual
*
All-Australian team
The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-performed players during the season, led b ...
:
2022
* 2×
22under22 team: 2017, 2018
*
AFL Mark of the Year: 2018
*
AFLPA Best First Year Player: 2015
*
AFLCA Best Young Player: 2016
*
AFL Rising Star nominee:
2015 (round 3)
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heeney, Isaac
1996 births
Sydney Swans players
Australian rules footballers from New South Wales
NSW/ACT Rams players
Living people
Sportspeople from Newcastle, New South Wales