The footy world marvelled as Isaac Heeney flew high for the 2018 AFL Mark of the Year – and Sydney Swans coach John Longmire is this week in awe of the young gun’s flying rise to 100 games.

The 23-year-old will rubber-stamp a meteoric launch from QBE Sydney Swans Academy prodigy to AFL superstar when he runs out for his 100th match in Sydney’s clash with Port Adelaide on Saturday afternoon.

Longmire spoke glowingly of Heeney’s sparkling skillset ahead of the Swans’ trip to Adelaide Oval.

“We’ve been really happy with Isaac. He competes at a really strong level. On the weekend he was fantastic for us up forward. He was flying for his marks, he has great hands and he almost helped lift the team over the line,” Longmire said.

“He’s got great attributes for a young player and we think that Isaac, Callum Mills and some of the other young boys have been super and are starting to drive the standards of the team.”

Heeney arrived on the AFL scene in stunning fashion in Round 1, 2015, threading a left-foot snap on the run in the dying stages of his debut match to seal victory for the Swans.

The boy from Newcastle claimed the Swans’ 2015 Rising Star honour to cap a brilliant debut season.

Despite missing a considerable chunk of the season due to injury, he finished fourth in the Rising Star race competition-wide behind Jesse Hogan, Patrick Cripps and Dom Sheed.

While Heeney has battled injury since rolling his ankle in Sydney’s pre-season game against Gold Coast, he’s continued to surge in season 2019.

Now an acclaimed midfielder-forward hybrid, the crowd favourite is averaging 20.6 touches per match this year, and has booted 24 majors to be sitting third on the club’s goal-kicking leaderboard.

Longmire commended Heeney on his ability to produce a strong 2019 campaign despite his injury cloud.

“All the great players are able to play with a certain level of discomfort throughout the course of the year and sometimes they have to play with that for the whole year – and that’s what Isaac has been able to do this year,” Longmire said.

“He had a great pre-season, he was tackled in the last game of the pre-season, he injured his ankle and that’s lingered a bit, but he’s been able to put it to one side. He hasn’t pulled out the insurance card and used it as an excuse, and he’s been able to roll the sleeves up and get going.”

Heeney is set to join a host of Swans who have celebrated milestone games this season, with Kieren Jack having notched his 250th match, Dane Rampe his 150th and Callum Sinclair his 100th.

Jackson Thurlow, Will Hayward, Ryan Clarke and Oliver Florent have also joined the 50-game club.