Nick Heyne – 2008 AFL Draftee Profile

Nick Heyne is a silky-moving left footer who looks another salivating athletic prospect for recruiters in the upcoming draft. Primarily an outside midfielder in the underage competition who can also prove very damaging up forward, Heyne appears to have the goods, but could inconsistency plague him at the top level? Let’s take a closer look.

Height: 187cm
Weight: 79kg
Position: Medium Forward/Midfielder
Club: Gippsland Power

Who we think he may turn out like: Andrew Embley
Who we hope he doesn’t turn out like: Nathan Lonie

 
Heyne is yet another potential draftee who immediately catches your eye with his athleticism. An on-baller blessed with good size and pace, he is able to play both through the middle, as well as providing a strong option up forward.

His strength up forward lies with his strong marking ability, and his goal sense. Heyne is one of those players who just knows where the goals are and given a chance can find them pretty regularly. He is your typical damaging left footer, and even when having a quiet game he can bob up to be involved in a couple of quick goals that can prove very valuable for his side.

The major question mark over Heyne is his consistency. He can drift in and out of games pretty regularly, to the stage where sometimes you’ll be wondering if he’s even on the ground. This inconsistency might plague him at the top level, but in his favour is the fact that he doesn’t need a huge amount of possessions to have an impact on the game.

If Heyne can remain involved in the game for greater periods, and continue to work on his skills, then there is no reason he can’t make the step up and be a very good player for whoever drafts him. If he can’t – well we hate to hit someone with a ‘Lonie label’, but unfortunately he could be a prime candidate.

Surely that is incentive enough to prove himself at the top level!

What do you think about Nick Heyne? Does he have the consistency to be a top performer in the AFL? Shoot us a comment below!