2003
Aaron Henneman did not get the start to the 2003 season he was looking for when he injured his groin in a practice match. It took the 22-year-old the first half of the season to overcome the injury. After the bye a bulked up Henneman returned to the Bendigo Bombers team and strung some good performances together. Henneman finished 2003 with six senior appearances and was played at both ends of the ground, but his main role was as the second ruck option to David Hille.
STRENGTHS
One of the main assets of Henneman’s game is his strength. Physically there is little doubt that Henneman has what is required to play in the key defensive post or become a strong marking target up forward. He is big, strong and athletic and has the ability to match up on both a small or tall player. His upper body strength will give him the edge on one-on-one contests and his ability to take overhead marks.
POSITION
When Henneman returned from injury in the second half of the 2003 season, the coaching panel used him as an alternative ruckman to David Hille. At 193cm tall and despite having a good leap, it is fair to say that Henneman struggled to match it with some of the taller ruckmen in the competition. In the past Henneman has been used in a key defensive role and also spent time in the forward line. The Bombers have the current luxury of a number of tall defenders – Dustin Fletcher, Sean Wellman, Mark Bolton, Adam McPhee, Dean Solomon and Scott Lucas. So Henneman could find himself forward and provide the team with another tall marking target and goal scoring option.
2004
2004 is definitely the make or break year for Aaron Henneman. Due to ongoing injuries the 23-year-old has struggled to recapture the form he showed in 2001 when he played 19 games. Despite missing the majority of the past two seasons with injury, the coaching staff has shown great faith in Henneman and hopefully with an injury free 2004 he will be able to prove his supporters correct and cement a spot in the senior team.
WHAT SHEEDY SAYS
This is the year it has to be for Aaron. From a coaching point of view, he has missed a lot of games and he needs to play well for his own confidence and belief that he is going to be a top line AFL footballer. In 2001 he had an excellent year and he hasn’t had a fair crack at it since due to injury. In many ways he is like Dean Wallis in the early years of his career – he had a lot of injuries and annoyances as I put them.
