Isaac Heeney vs Christian Petracca

Who is/will be the better player?

  • Isaac Heeney

    Votes: 173 53.1%
  • Christian Petracca

    Votes: 153 46.9%

  • Total voters
    326
It's Petracca comfortably

But I will be honest, if Heeney starts putting games together like their final this year and stays injury free he will close the gap quickly and significantly

Heeney has the potential to truly rip games apart a be a top 10 AFL player

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This is it in a nutshell, but even if Heeney can get his body right, I don't think it's the best comparison.

Heeney's Elimination Final gave a glimpse into the kind of player he can become. A dominant one-on-one forward who is near impossible to match-up on, with the ability to push up the ground and have an occasional shorts bursts through the midfield. Petracca is sort of the reverse. Virtually impossible to match-up on and shut down in the midfield, but he also has an exceptional ability to push forward and kick goals.

Using Martin as a yardstick, Heeney is like Dusty but spends more time forward, and Petracca is like Dusty but spends more time in the midfield.
 
This is it in a nutshell, but even if Heeney can get his body right, I don't think it's the best comparison.

Heeney's Elimination Final gave a glimpse into the kind of player he can become. A dominant one-on-one forward who is near impossible to match-up on, with the ability to push up the ground and have an occasional shorts bursts through the midfield. Petracca is sort of the reverse. Virtually impossible to match-up on and shut down in the midfield, but he also has an exceptional ability to push forward and kick goals.

Using Martin as a yardstick, Heeney is like Dusty but spends more time forward, and Petracca is like Dusty but spends more time in the midfield.
Yeah and it might be a little bias but I think if they both hit their potential peaks Petracca would be ahead but not by much.

And dont forget only 2 years ago I don't think anyone thought Petracca would be a mid-fwd and not the other way around so Heeney could still be that type of player.

But they do have different strengths, Heeney has a great leap and is greta in the air for his size where as Petraccas main strength is his quickness and strength in traffic
 
It’s hard to go past Petracca at the moment against any player in the league. Heeney at his best is one of my favourite players to watch. I can see the Swans being serious contenders next year, these two lighting the field up in a big final would be incredible.
 

Bald

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18 months ago I thought Heeney, though wouldn’t have minded either.

Now it’s Petracca and I still wouldn’t mind either. Both at their best they’re in the top 5-10 players picked in the comp.
 
Yeah and it might be a little bias but I think if they both hit their potential peaks Petracca would be ahead but not by much.

And dont forget only 2 years ago I don't think anyone thought Petracca would be a mid-fwd and not the other way around so Heeney could still be that type of player.

But they do have different strengths, Heeney has a great leap and is greta in the air for his size where as Petraccas main strength is his quickness and strength in traffic
No doubt. It's hard to argue that on exposed form Heeney might not reach Petracca's peak, but at his best, Petracca is the best player in the comp, so it's not saying much.

Really hard to get a read on Heeney at all, because even when he was putting in BOG performances this year, Longmire was quick to remind everyone that he wasn't 100% and was playing with injuries that nobody outside of the club would have known about. Particularly with Hewett and Dawson leaving, a fit Heeney next year is potentially the difference between us pushing for the top eight or pushing for the top four. Likewise, a Petracca injury this year could have been the difference between the Dees finishing Minor Premiers and playing an 'away' Qualifying Final.

Seriously good players at their best. Hope we get to see them go toe-to-toe (not literally in terms of position, but rather impact-wise) in a few finals over the next few years.
 
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No doubt. It's hard to argue that on exposed form Heeney might not reach Petracca's peak, but at his best, Petracca is the best player in the comp, so it's not saying much.

Really hard to get a read on Heeney at all, because even when he was putting in BOG performances this year, Longmire was quick to remind everyone that he wasn't 100% and was playing with injuries that nobody outside of the club would have known about. Particularly with Hewett and Dawson leaving, a fit Heeney next year is potentially the difference between us pushing for the top eight or pushing for the top four. Likewise, a Petracca injury this year could have been the difference between the Dees finishing Minor Premiers and playing an 'away' Qualifying Final.

Seriously good players at their best. Hope we get to see them go toe-to-toe (not literally in terms of position, but rather impact-wise) in a few finals over the next few years.

I think two things about Heeney which I get a very strong sense from watching him play, hearing him speak, and hearing people talk about him is that so far in his development: 1. he doesn't watch a lot of football, and 2. he prepares himself excellently but I have not got any sense that he brings others along for the journey.

Number 1 isn't a crime, you can watch as much or as little as you want, but I do think it will prevent him from ever ascending to a Petracca-like level. And that's fine, he can still be a very damaging player, but he has finished top 5 in one Skilton Medal (2018) and at this point, we need him to be competing for Skiltons year in and year out to be as good as we can be as a side.

He definitely has had injuries, but I think that leads into number 2 - I don't think Heeney's leadership in terms of helping other players has been what was expected of him. He was promoted to the leadership group for 2019 and has not been in since. Someone like Callum Mills is a much more natural leader imo and I suspect he'll be captain of the club very soon. I just don't think Heeney has developed that real zest for improving every part of the footy club that other great Swans have. It reminds me a little of a young Adam Goodes in that he was told by the club that he wasn't in the leadership group because he didn't work hard enough to improve others at the club, and sure enough 12 months later he was in the leadership group because he worked hard at that. I'd love to see Heeney do the same thing and take more responsibility for not just his own performance, but that of the club as a whole. I don't KNOW that to be the case but I strongly suspect it.
 
Heeney should be one of the premium strikers in the competition. Maybe he just needs to add a bit of weight.
Just needs a bit more consistency

His final v GWS was ******* off the charts. He had a few other big games during the year

He is approaching that elite bracket but might not get to the absolute top echelon of players like Petracca but he is close to a premium player as you can get at the moment already
 
Jul 13, 2015
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Just needs a bit more consistency

His final v GWS was ******* off the charts. He had a few other big games during the year

He is approaching that elite bracket but might not get to the absolute top echelon of players like Petracca but he is close to a premium player as you can get at the moment already

Heeney has been approaching elite from day 1. Never actually delivered.

Petracca has slowly built up and kept improving. This year he was everything he was expected to be.
 
Feb 23, 2009
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Heeney has been approaching elite from day 1. Never actually delivered.

Petracca has slowly built up and kept improving. This year he was everything he was expected to be.
Agree Petracca had his year in 2021 where he delivered on a star season.

Petracca is a few months older, so if Heeney really elevates in 2022 then at worst he's what 1 season behind?

I think they both have a very, very promising 25-30 years, similar to the age where Dustin Martin elevated from gun to superstar.
 

Ambrosia

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Agree Petracca had his year in 2021 where he delivered on a star season.

Petracca is a few months older, so if Heeney really elevates in 2022 then at worst he's what 1 season behind?

I think they both have a very, very promising 25-30 years, similar to the age where Dustin Martin elevated from gun to superstar.

I think it’s underselling Truc’s 2020 a bit but I agree with the general sentiment.

Also think people are underselling how hard the role Heeney plays is. He spends plenty of time playing as a permanent forward. If he played full time mid he’d rack up a few more stats and everyone would think he’s a consistent star. 36 goals and a 18 goal assists in 21 games is a huge impact forward of the ball where games are won.
 

AFDogs

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Based on just 2021 and 2020 alone it's obviously Petracca. Although Heeney had a better body of work prior to those years in my opinion.

Hard to look past Petracca as probably being the best player in the comp right now though.
 
Apr 12, 2014
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Based on just 2021 and 2020 alone it's obviously Petracca. Although Heeney had a better body of work prior to those years in my opinion.

Hard to look past Petracca as probably being the best player in the comp right now though.

Honestly don't think there is a clear 'best player' in the league even after the GF. There is however a clear group above the others currently with Bont, Petracca and Oliver (Dusty should be back there provided he is fit in 2022).
 

AFDogs

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Honestly don't think there is a clear 'best player' in the league even after the GF. There is however a clear group above the others currently with Bont, Petracca and Oliver (Dusty should be back there provided he is fit in 2022).

Would add Wines to that list.
 
Would add Wines to that list.

No. He is a terrific A grader and great for his team. He is an A grader, whatevs that means but not a widely acknowledged champion of the game. The other fellas are.

Isaac and Ollie are in the same boat. Personally I believe from a biased Bloods view that Mills has more upside than Heeney.
 
I don't think Heeney is ever going to reach Trac's level in the midfield, but both are capable of being amongst the elite forwards in the league and Heeney at his best is already there. Just needs to stay fit for a consistent period of time.
 

Ed_Gein

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I voted Heeney, and why not? I'm a Swans supporter, haha. In the end they are both fantastic players - Melbourne wouldn't swap Petracca for Heeney, and the Swans wouldn't swap Heeney for Petracca. The neutrals can only wish for such quality in their sides. :cool:
 
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I voted Heeney, and why not? I'm a Swans supporter, haha. In the end they are both fantastic players - Melbourne wouldn't swap Petracca for Heeney, and the Swans wouldn't swap Heeney for Petracca. The neutrals can only wish for such quality in their sides. :cool:
The Swans would make that trade in a heartbeat.

Heeney is a good player and can break games open

Petracca is close to if not the best player and consistently does break games open, it isn't close at this point.
 
Apr 12, 2014
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Feels like Heeney will always be the icing on the cake (boring one liner but it's true).
Petracca looks like he has the physical presence & desire to turn around a game if the chips are down and those types of footballers are incredibly rare. The lofty tag of being the no.1 pick already looks to be justified.

This was a very good post considering it was made in 2016.
 
Feb 23, 2009
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Heeney winning this poll is astonishing.

Petracca is now the best player in the comp.

Some people may want to change their vote, and I am a fan of Heeney, but he is not on Trac's level.
It's almost as if player development isn't linear and players develop at different rates ;)

Prior to the last 18 months, it wouldn't have been as clear. Obviously since the beginning if 2021 Petracca has overtaken Heeney.
 
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