'Not good enough': Isaac Heeney savaged by AFL great over 'unforgivable' act
Dissecting the game on Channel 7 program 'The Agenda Setters' on Tuesday night, Hawthorn great Hodge wasn't impressed by what he saw from Heeney. Hodge pinpointed two goals the Hawks scored that came about from Heeney lapses, and described his actions as "unforgivable" at one stage.
"He's on watch, because his job is to make sure nothing comes through the stoppage," Hodge said. "But also, as the ball goes out, he's got to watch out for any player."
Hodge showed vision of Heeney seeing that Lloyd Meek was free in the forward line but failing to mark up on him, which allowed Meek to take a mark and convert the goal. "This is unforgivable right here," Hodge said. "He sees Meek is by himself and thinks 'he's not my man and I'm not going to worry about him'. You're a leader of the football club. He didn't man him up and Meek kicked one of his two goals. That's not good enough."
Hodge then showed a second incident in which Heeney ignored teammate Justin McInerney telling him to push onto the other side of a ball-up and mark a free Hawks player. "McInerney is telling his leader to push through because (Conor) Nash is sitting here by himself," Hodge said.
"Because he doesn't do that...no intensity...(James) Rowbottom and (Chad) Warner get sucked into the contest because Heeney didn't come across. It left two of Hawthorn's best ball-users at the back of the contest. They kicked it forward and scored a goal. Two of their three goals from outside the centre square came from a Heeney set-up."
"Two of their three goals from outside the centre square from stoppage, [came] due to a Heeney set-up (error)." Confirmed: Hodgey has been watching tape 👉 https://t.co/fcUPlqIagS pic.twitter.com/LmIDHvoPTf
— 7AFL (@7AFL) March 11, 2025
Heeney wasn't the only high-profile player to be criticised for their play on Tuesday night, with James Hird and Rory Sloane calling out Collingwood skipper Darcy Moore. Vision was shown on 'Footy Classified' on Channel 9 of the moment GWS counterpart Toby Greene ran back bravely into a marking contest and managed to avoid being hit with any force.
Hird and Sloane both said they were gobsmacked Moore didn't take the opportunity to put a shot on Greene, which could have been done legally as he contested the ball. Eddie McGuire highlighted footage of Greene being very physical with Collingwood players and questioned why Moore didn't give him a taste of his own medicine.
McGuire pointed out that Moore was involved in the incident with Christian Petracca last year that saw the Demons star suffer horrific rib and lung injuries. He asked Hird: "That would have been in the back of his mind and he's a scrupulously-fair player, but in this situation (with Greene) what would you have been advising him to do?"
Hird responded: "I have huge respect for Darcy Moore but if it was Toby Greene in that situation, Darcy Moore would have been carried off on a stretcher. He would have gone straight through him. I'm not saying you try to hurt anybody, but I imagine if Toby Greene was in the same situation it would have been a different story."
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Retired Crows champion Sloane said Greene would be "lights out" and "going to hospital" if he was in Moore's situation. "It was courageous from Greene and you expect that from your captain, but on the other side I'm going 'there's a freight train coming and he's lights out here. He's going to hospital."
McGuire added: "In the context of that game, Collingwood needed to do something. Darcy did the right thing and punched the ball away nicely...he did it nicely."
"GWS went there with intent to be 'violent', and Collingwood didn't stand up to that."Hirdy and Eddie highlight how the difference in Toby Greene and Darcy Moore's approach summed up the Giants-Pies clash.#9FootyClassified | Watch on Nine & 9Now 📺 pic.twitter.com/y8K1tUixbC
— Footy on Nine (@FootyonNine) March 11, 2025
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