Isaac Heeney savaged over injury 'excuse' as Sydney player's 'unforgivable' act called out

AFL great Matthew Lloyd has highlighted some of the horror moments from the grand final that will "haunt" the Sydney Swans, while Kane Cornes has ripped Isaac Heeney for using injury as an "excuse" for his poor showing. John Longmire's team were the best in the AFL all season, but looked a shadow of their usual selves on Saturday against Brisbane at the MCG.

A number of players produced some questionable efforts, and they were brutally exposed on the Sunday Footy Show on Channel 9. Lloyd highlighted Brodie Grundy getting rag-dolled at a centre bounce, saying Hayden McLean was "just as bad".

Dane Rampe and Nick Blakey got beaten way too easily at marking contests, while Justin McInerney produced a bizarre effort in the forward 50 when the Swans were on the attack. McInerney appeared to be worried about getting hit when Tom Papley lofted a hand-ball over the top, and opted to punch the ball with a backhanded effort despite there being no defenders around him.

"That is unforgivable, what is that?" Lloyd said. "That is as bad as it gets on grand final day." The Essendon great said about Papley: "He's been in the face of everyone until grand final day when he just coughed the ball up.

"They all have to live with this for the rest of their time in this game when they embarrassed themselves on grand final day. They were out-coached, out-played, out-worked."

Lloyd questioned whether Longmire was too "safe" with his game plan. "Their only way of trying to score was chipping the ball around," he said. "This was a Sydney Swans game. There was no dare, there was no handball around the back. They were too safe. It can get me to the grand final but can't win me grand finals."

Questions over John Longmire's future at Swans

Leading reporter Damien Barrett questioned whether the demoralising loss would throw Longmire's future at the Swans into doubt. Longmire has now lost four grand finals in five attempts, including another thrashing at the hands of Geelong in 2022.

"The fact that this has added to what happened in 2022, when the game was over in the second quarter, as that was yesterday," Barrett said. "That was an 81-point loss, yesterday was 60-point loss. This can't be walked past. John Longmire has been wrestling with is will own future, he is contracted, but to be smashed now twice inside three seasons to add the '16 grand final and the '14 grand final to the losses he has had, I expect this club to fully debrief this one and I think some big conversations will be had.

"I am not overdramatising it to say that it got to the better of Malcolm Blight. 1989, '92, and '94, and then the Cats made the grand final again under a different coach. These types of losses, two inside three years, can have a massive effect as to how you view yourself and the way that club views you. I have as much time for John Longmire as anyone in football, he is an amazing coach, but his game plan has fallen down badly."

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Isaac Heeney called out over injury 'excuse'

Swans talisman Heeney revealed after the grand final he'd been playing through a stress fracture in his shin. Heeney was taken off the field and looked shattered, but Cornes wasn't buying the excuse.

"I don't care for injuries on grand final day. Have a look at it, he was poor yesterday once again," Cornes said. "[He was] clearly heartbroken. He was the hottest player in football coming into this game. He was the favourite for the Norm Smith Medal and was walking on water in the qualifying final, the prelim final, he was a man possessed.

"To turn up yesterday and not give the performance that he had all year, I was disappointed to hear this from John Longmire after the game (that Heeney was injured). There was no stress reaction in his shin in the prelim final or qualifying final so don't give me an injury excuse after an 11 disposal performance in 2022.

"Yesterday he hardly went through it and no influence and I just don't want the injury excuses. Isaac has to look at his preparation in the big games and while he has failed again as the best player in football this year, but didn't produce on the biggest stage yesterday."