Ollie Henry is quickly emerging as one of the breakout players of the year, having kicked seven goals in the last two weeks and taken 19 marks in four games.
Garry Lyon was impressed with his performance in Collingwood’s win over Carlton and believes he is starting to show glimpses of the player he was at under 18 level.
“That boy Oliver Henry who’s form in the last few weeks has just been on an upward curve – when I watched is under 18 tape, this is what you hoped he would be,” Lyon told SEN Breakfast.
“I know in (Nathan Buckley’s) first year, he was too raw and you can tell me if you played him too early or not, but he is doing now what he was doing in his last year of under 18 footy.
“So when you see that and you see that it’s transferable to the absolute elite, then you’ve got a player on your hands.
“He’s put three games together. The first one he just missed every shot he kicked. He had six shots in the first quarter in a half and was dropped off the back of it.
“When you watch him jump at the footy, he’s honest in the air. Some players don’t like it, he is genuinely honest in the air.”
Former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley added that Henry’s talent was evident immediately, saying the club tried to get as many games as they could into him early on.
“We played him probably seven games out of the first 11 last year and he probably only earned two or three of those and he was dropped two or three times,” he said.
“We could see the talent and what he could do on the track, and he’s been dropped this year as well.
“That shows the resilience of the kid to say ‘okay, come up – not at the level. Come up – not at the level.
“Then he’s put two games together, kicked seven goals in two games, and he played very well last week.”
Collingwood will be looking to string together a third consecutive win when they face Hawthorn on Sunday.