ONE MOMENT stood out amid the chaos of last Friday night's pulsating finish at the SCG.
As memorable as it was, it wasn't Errol Gulden's match-winning snap from the pocket. It was the sight of Isaac Heeney two minutes earlier with his eyes closed for five seconds, sucking in a few deep breaths, before calmly slotting a crucial goal.
That quarter could prove season defining for Sydney. In the space of a pivotal 30 minutes, the Swans emerged from a late season malaise courtesy of a herculean performance by the poster boy of football in the Harbour City.
Heeney produced a fourth quarter for the ages to drag the Swans over the line alongside Chad Warner, collecting 14 disposals and a crucial goal to sink Collingwood and finish with 32 disposals, 15 contested possessions, nine inside 50s, seven clearances and the ten coaches' votes.
The performance arrived just when Sydney, and Heeney, needed it most. After three straight losses and five in six weeks – plus the inconceivable 112-point defeat to Port Adelaide the week before – Sydney maintained its four-point advantage on top of the ladder, after recovering from 27 points down to beat Collingwood by three points.
John Longmire started the week by giving his players two full days off after returning from South Australia following the thumping loss to the Power. The freshen up led to forthright meetings internally, resulting in the response they needed to reignite a season that had stalled.
"I think on Friday night, we had so much to lose but at the same time we went out there and didn't feel like we had that much to lose," Heeney told AFL.com.au.
"The last quarter we threw everything at it and we were extremely connected and driven together. We worked for each other and bought into the selfless side of the game, which paid dividends in everyone's game.
"Every team throughout the season goes through a patch where you are grinding. Brisbane's was the start of the year and now they're flying. Look at us and it was us when it becomes a grind. It lasted a bit longer than we would have liked. The Port Adelaide game hit the history books for the wrong reasons.
"The team has always been incredibly close. We were a little bit embarrassed after the Dogs (loss by 39 points) but then really embarrassed after Port Adelaide. We all stuck together and it is a very close knit group. We got back to focusing more on us, rather than the opposition. We've always had the belief but that win really got us back on track. We were in a rut, hopefully we're out of it, but we need to back it up this week to prove that we're out of it."
Renowned mindfulness coach Emma Murray has been working with Sydney this season after playing a pivotal role in Richmond's transformative dynasty under Damien Hardwick. Murray has trained the Swans to control their thinking, while breathwork coach Rory Warnock has trained them to control their breathing.
That work was encapsulated in a moment that mattered most when Heeney consciously blocked out the 37,854 people inside the SCG – and the millions watching on from home – by reducing his heart rate to heighten his focus, like a striker stepping up to take a penalty kick with the game on his boot.
"Late in the game, I had a big running moment where I covered a lot of ground. I took a mark and needed to reset. It gives you clarity when you're fatigued," Heeney explained.
"You just focus purely on your breathing and try and let the crowd out of your head and the whole scene of where you are. You try to block out being in the stadium and think it's just me and the football, me and the goals. You only have five seconds but your focus is on your breathing and heart rate.
"It is something I've worked on this year after kicking a lot of behinds and probably didn't have as clear a focus when I was having my set shots. This year I've kicked a lot more accurately."
Heeney is at the business end of the finest season of his decorated career. He will collect a second All-Australian blazer on the final Thursday night of August. He holds a three-vote lead over Collingwood superstar Nick Daicos and Fremantle vice-captain Caleb Serong in the AFL Coaches Association player of the year award and could claim his first Bob Skilton Medal. Other recognition will come. But he won't take the Brownlow Medal home, even if he polls the most votes.
The 28-year-old was ruled ineligible when the AFL Appeals Board upheld the Tribunal's one-game suspension for a hit on St Kilda defender Jimmy Webster in July. At that stage, the former first-round pick was the favourite to win the game's most prestigious individual prize. It was a dramatic week for Heeney – and it will be the elephant in the room on Brownlow night – but the enforced layoff provided a slight silver lining.
"I'm here to win the ultimate, not an individual prize. Of course, everyone would love to win a Brownlow, but I'm not here to win that. I'm happy with my form, happy playing a position that I grew up playing and I'm loving it," he said.
"It is what it is. It felt a bit unfair at the time, but the support from not just the Swans but the whole media was incredible and extremely humbling. It was only a week's suspension, so it wasn't bad. You've got to move on from things, you can't let it bother you. It's not ideal but you’ve got to move on.
"It was almost a blessing in disguise because my body was so banged up at that period that I probably needed a week off to reset and try and get my body back a bit. It is has been a long year, a very long year. I was battling there with my body after the suspension for five or six weeks there, just really struggling with it. That takes a mental toll on you as well, where you're just trying to get up for games but feel you're running on empty at times, purely because your body is so sore, and I've had a few injuries that have popped back up."
Heeney copped it for addressing the suspension in a club produced video after the hearing, even from his business partner, Greater Western Sydney captain Toby Greene, who gave him a cheeky clip in a characteristic response video from the Giants. It was water off a duck's back for Heeney, but it ruffled some feathers inside the Swans' Moore Park headquarters.
The pair have spoken almost every week since launching 5th Quarter Camps together last year. They have run football training camps for kids aged six to 14 during every school holidays since then and have plans to expand beyond New South Wales.
"I've loved being involved in it," he said. "It is nice to give back and also grow something that could become big. Toby has come up from being a Melbourne kid to Sydney and realised the opportunity for growth in New South Wales. I've grown up in New South Wales and know it. I've seen it grow in my career and see the potential for further growth. Hopefully with the 5th Quarter we can keep pushing and helping talented kids."
It isn't the only business Heeney has become involved in across the past 12 months. Sydney teammates Will Hayward and Ollie Florent launched seltzer company, Doozy Drinks, in 2021 with a couple of other business partners. Heeney recently became financially involved, adding another project to the development he is building across the road from his house in the eastern suburbs.
"Will and Ollie started up the company and asked me to jump on board. It has grown to a nice size and is still growing. It is a cool thing to do with some good mates. It is fun, which has been the biggest thing. It is good to see how a start-up works," he said.
"Similar to 5th Quarter, it has given balance to my life. Sometimes I wonder if I have bitten off a bit more than I can chew – I'm also doing a development – but you need that release.
"For me I've loved being busy. Having all these things outside of footy provides an escape and balance in my life."
Heeney has a lot on his plate in 2024, but just like that red-time moment at the SCG last Friday night, deep breaths are required to get the job done. Bigger tasks await in September.
