Heartbroken Swan Isaac Heeney reveals he 'managed' stress fracture through entire finals series
A heartbroken Isaac Heeney has admitted he played through Sydney's entire finals campaign with a stress fracture in his ankle.
Heeney's Swans went down by a whopping 60 points to Brisbane in the grand final, with the injury revealed post-match.
"I've had a stress fracture in my ankle for the whole final series, so I've had to manage that," Heeney said.
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Isaac Heeney of the Swans sits on the MCG turf after their 2024 grand final loss to Brisbane. Getty
The Swans played two finals before their premiership heartbreak, defeating GWS in a come-from-behind victory and Port Adelaide by a comfortable 36 points.
Heeney starred in both those finals, but could not come to the party on the biggest stage of them all.
He had just 14 disposals and one goal.
"I felt good going into the game, and then I hurt it when I got run down and tackled, I think it was late in the first (quarter)," Heeney said.
"Obviously couldn't get through, and in the end, it was too far of a deficit. I wasn't moving well, and they (the coaches) just said, 'You're done'."
Heeney was spotted with his head in his hands on the bench in the final term, as he prepared to suffer his third grand final defeat of his career, following on from losses in 2016 and 2022.
Isaac Heeney came from the field midway through the final quarter. Seven
But it wasn't just Heeney who came into the match sore.
Key Swans forward Logan McDonald was subbed out during the match, after collecting just six touches and having no scoreboard impact.
McDonald suffered a medial ankle sprain during the Swans' preliminary final win last week, and trained very lightly during the week, despite being cleared of serious damage.
"That's frustrating in itself, because we had Loges (McDonald) go out too, and a few of the boys were pretty sore," he said.
"After the Port game, I was pretty sore, so I had to get through the week."
The Swans have lost the last four grand finals they have competed in, with their 2024 hiding added to their 2022, 2016 and 2014 losses.
