Not surprisingly for such a small frame, Ned McHenry started like a house on fire in the SANFL in his debut listed season including one 28-touch, 11-tackle performance then succumbed to collision injuries, in his case to head and back. He returned for September and put in another stellar game to boot 4.1 from 17 disposals against Norwood, finishing with a very respectable fantasy average of 81. McHenry was used in the clinches at the lower level and suffered because of it, perhaps justifying the club's decision not to throw him into the deep end of senior action too early. His role when he does make the ones in 2020 is far more likely to start deep in attack as a frontal pressure merchant, which does not tend to produce startable scores for fantasy. One to keep an eye on in preseason.
Watch your head, Ned
Not surprisingly for such a small frame, Ned McHenry started like a house on fire in the SANFL in his debut listed season including one 28-touch, 11-tackle performance then succumbed to collision injuries, in his case to head and back. He returned for September and put in another stellar game to boot 4.1 from 17 disposals against Norwood, finishing with a very respectable fantasy average of 81. McHenry was used in the clinches at the lower level and suffered because of it, perhaps justifying the club's decision not to throw him into the deep end of senior action too early. His role when he does make the ones in 2020 is far more likely to start deep in attack as a frontal pressure merchant, which does not tend to produce startable scores for fantasy. One to keep an eye on in preseason.
Ned is a workhorse
Geelong overlooked Barwon Heads boy Ned McHenry to allow the Crows to pounce a pick later in the first round, and he is just what both clubs need: a frontal pressure specialist. He went at an astonishing rate of over 10 tackles at the Championships, though his TAC Cup average of four is more indicative, where his fantasy score hovered in the mid-70s from 18 disposals per game. McHenry has drawn favourable comparisons with Hayden Ballantyne, and if he reaches those heights then he will be an excellent servant. Balla had a fairly quiet debut season, and it is very much on the cards that we will only see glimpses of McHenry's potential in between stints in the SANFL. The club will look to other options in the short term like Lachlan Murphy, and so should you.
