ISAAC Heeney produced one of the great finals performances to haul Sydney across the line against GWS last weekend, but where does it rank among the all-time classics?  

That's the sort of question that will start endless debates in lounge rooms and pubs around the country, but the only clear answer is that there IS no clear answer. 

If we take the AFL Player Ratings, produced by Champion Data, Heeney's stat line of 30 disposals (18 contested), three goals and seven clearances delivered a rating of 24.3 - remarkably, not quite good enough for the best performance of the first week of the 2024 finals. 

That honour belonged to Geelong recruit Shaun Mannagh, whose 23-disposal, three-goal game was rated at 25.7 points. 

And neither of those games cracked the top 20 finals performances since 2010, as ranked by their Player Ratings score. 

>> SCROLL DOWN FOR THE 20 TOP-RATING FINALS GAMES SINCE 2010

Luke Shuey's Norm Smith Medal-winning display in West Coast's memorable win over Collingwood in the 2018 Grand Final sits atop that list with a massive 35.7 points. Dustin Martin's iconic effort in Richmond's drought-breaking premiership win in 2017 is next with 30.9 points, followed by Todd Goldstein's 30.6-point game in North Melbourne's thrilling semi-final win over Geelong in 2014.  

Christian Petracca's 39-disposal, two-goal game in Melbourne's 2021 Grand Final victory comes in sixth, making three Norm Smith medallists in the top six since 2010. 

But which other finals games live long in the memory? 

Goalkicking feats always catch the eye and by that token, Gary Ablett snr's nine goals for Geelong in the 1989 Grand Final remains the benchmark in one of the most entertaining season deciders. 

Similarly, Hawthorn champion Dermott Brereton built his legend on great finals feats, including five goals on debut in the 1982 semi-final against North Melbourne, and his eight goals in the 1985 Grand Final against Essendon.

Melbourne great Garry Lyon booted a career-high 10 goals in a shellacking of Footscray in the 1994 semi-final, and who could ever forget Lance Franklin's seven-goal heroics for the Hawks in their 2007 elimination final win against Adelaide. 

Then there are the midfield accumulators. Only Petracca has matched the 39 disposals that Simon Black gathered to win the Norm Smith in the 2003 Grand Final, while Robert Harvey (31 disposals, three goals) had a day out in St Kilda's qualifying final win over Adelaide in 2005. 

North Melbourne copped the brunt of two historic performances in 2000 - first, Essendon's Joe Misiti collected 41 disposals and four goals in a huge win in the qualifying final before Melbourne's Jeff Farmer torched the Roos with seven goals in the prelim a fortnight later. 

The individual big days out also linger long in the memory. Peter Matera was a deserving Norm Smith medallist with five goals in West Coast's first premiership in 1992, while Andrew McLeod's seven goals in a preliminary final thrashing of the Bulldogs in 1998 was incredible. 

And then there are the unlikely heroes - Nick Davis with his last-quarter brilliance in the 2005 semi-final to save Sydney against Geelong; Mason Cox's three goals in 10 minutes to break the seemingly unstoppable Tigers in the 2018 preliminary final, and Max Gawn's five goals against Geelong in the corresponding game three years later.   

Every fan will have their favourite - Western Bulldog Clay Smith's four goals in the 2016 preliminary final, or his teammate Tom Boyd's three in the Grand Final a week later are favourites in Melbourne's western suburbs - and the number crunchers might throw up a different result entirely. 

As coaches and players often tell the public, it's a team game, and individual heroics always take a back seat to collective glory in the history books. 

But when the likes of Heeney deliver a September showing that is instantly recognised as a classic, the debate will start all over again - and with good reason. 

Highest-rated finals performances since 2010