AFL Player #21: Dyson Heppell aka Farnsy

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Contract Status: Unrestricted Free Agent 2024
My Boy Draft 2024: Pick 27, Highly Evolved
 
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Looks like Damo is outta the Doghouse.

 

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Jul 19, 2010
3,156
6,299
Sydney
AFL Club
Essendon

How football’s most laid-back captain fronts a club needing leadership

In a week, 10 years will have passed since the once shaggy-haired Dyson Heppell made his debut for Essendon.
Essendon captain Dyson Heppell at training this week.

Essendon captain Dyson Heppell at training this week.CREDIT:GETTY IMAGES

One year was lost when the Court of the Arbitration for Sport suspended him and 33 of his teammates for 12 months in 2016 following the supplements scandal.
Last year the 28-year-old played just three matches because of a foot injury, then a fractured ankle.

But in six of his other eight seasons Heppell has finished in the top three in the club best and fairest. In his first season he won the Rising Star award.
Since 2017 he has been Essendon captain.
Although universally respected, he’s rarely mentioned among the AFL’s best midfielders – a pity given how few of his contemporaries had to paddle through the turbulent waters he did near the peak of his career.

Showing the way: Dyson Heppell with a boundary-line smother.CREDIT:CHANNEL SEVEN

His leadership is similarly underrated, with club president Paul Brasher’s searching review post-season finding Heppell could do little more as captain, finding instead that he needed more support in the role he was chosen to fill again in 2021.

Perhaps it’s the knockabout impression Heppell gives when sun-drenched phrases such as “cherry ripe”, “happy days”, “chewing the fat” and “getting the chocolates” tumble from his mouth in interviews and in private that causes some to underestimate his competitive spirit.
It’s true he is as approachable as a labrador, his straightforward, welcoming introduction “G’day guys, Dyson Heppell” familiar to any academy group that regularly wanders through the Hangar. But it’s not the only side of Heppell, with one source who has worked alongside the skipper saying: “Underneath that puppy dog is a bull terrier”.
A former teammate said Heppell was an authentic leader, and his natural optimism, warmth and country drawl are neither manufactured nor stifled by his public position.
Although not a natural confrontationalist, Heppell is more than happy to make a point when he needs to. Vision of the stare he gave former teammate Brendon Goddard after he famously destroyed a bowl of pretzels at half-time in 2017 giving some insight into that part his character.
And in 2021 his steel will be required, because the challenges facing Essendon are real.

On the field Heppell has the chance to remind everyone of his value as he relocates to half-back, a position he says has allowed him to express his leadership even more during the pre-season.
It’s a return to a role he occupied when he first joined the Bombers after being a standout sportsman in Leongatha, where the Heppell furnishings store remains part of the region’s furniture and the family name is one that makes the locals proud.
Bombers coach Ben Rutten, who is full of admiration for Heppell, is excited by the shift.
“He will provide a lot of experience and a bit of calmness back there for our defensive unit,” Rutten said.

Essendon’s Dyson Heppell (far right) enjoys universal respect among the AFL’s club captains.

Essendon’s Dyson Heppell (far right) enjoys universal respect among the AFL’s club captains.CREDIT:GETTY IMAGES

The idea is not without risk, however, with a board member wishing Rutten a simple “good luck” when he detailed his plans to use Heppell, Michael Hurley and James Stewart in different roles in 2021 while integrating new players at the same time.
Heppell needs some luck, admitting that his normally optimistic nature became overwhelmed at times in 2020 as he dealt with the twin challenges of finding fitness and being in the hub as the team lost.
A post-season operation on his foot meant he didn’t return until the delayed round-two match was played in June following the COVID-shutdown.
“I was at a point where I thought, ‘Bloody hell, is this thing going to ever get better?’ – but eventually we’ve turned the corner and happy days,” Heppell said.
His season then fell apart when he fractured his foot at training the following week and did not return until round 15.

“You want to be on the ground, whether it is during wins or losses and experiencing those emotions and trying to help the boys as much as you can, particularly from a leadership point of view,” Heppell said.
“Certainly it did eat at me a number of times but I think I move on from that pretty quickly and always try to look at the positive side.
“[There were some] great learnings right throughout that rehab period and a lot of positives in terms of the mental side of things I got from it and the resilience I had to grow as well. It should hold me in good stead.”
That resilience was necessary as stories swirled in football circles about what was happening at the Bombers’ hub, with poor performances piling up before Orazio Fantasia, Joe Daniher and Adam Saad asked for trades and Conor McKenna returned to Ireland.

Dyson Heppell tackles West Coast’s [PLAYERCARD]Tom Cole[/PLAYERCARD] in one of just three matches the Essendon captain played in 2020.

Dyson Heppell tackles West Coast’s Tom Cole in one of just three matches the Essendon captain played in 2020. CREDIT:GETTY IMAGES

Heppell did not avoid the real issues that did arise at the time, but he became frustrated dealing with interpretations of the situation he felt were off the mark.
“You have to try to not dive into too much of what people are saying from the outside, but it ate away at me a bit when there were things that were said that just weren’t true,” he said
Heppell now reflects on that time with his usual positive outlook, seeing it as containing lessons.
“It was an important period for us and I think our culture and our connection with the boys certainly developed a lot at the hub,” he said.
At Marvel Stadium on Saturday night, Hawthorn await, the team the Bombers met in Heppell’s first game as skipper when he kicked three goals and earned three Brownlow votes. As a defender his ball-winning abilities, safe hands and courage will come to the fore.

The body is “cherry” and Heppell re-invigorated, with Essendon hoping one of the era’s best midfielders can remind us of his class from behind the ball while pushing the team towards the success he so desperately craves.
He now has an even better handle on how he can contribute as skipper.
“It’s purely about listening to the people that I trust and focusing on what you can do internally and really building a strong connection and care for the playing group,” Heppell said.
“I have really enjoyed the way ‘Truck’ [Rutten] has taken over and is implementing his game style and coaching style.
“We have developed a hell of a lot and we are going to see some young guys that really step up this year. There is a nice little vibe at the moment internally and hope building off the back of that.”
 
Was clearly running on empty in the last quarter. As you would expect from a player coming off two interrupted pre seasons and playing minimal games last year.
 

MiguelM

Norm Smith Medallist
Feb 22, 2014
5,373
6,641
AFL Club
Essendon
Was clearly running on empty in the last quarter. As you would expect from a player coming off two interrupted pre seasons and playing minimal games last year.
For sure. Promising first half. Missed his marking in the latter part of the game.
 

foj1

Cancelled
Oct 25, 2005
4,325
3,188
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
essendon
He is not a great leader
great bloke has no leadership out on the ground
has seen his best days and been a good afl footballer
 
I mean, he ran out of puff a little but he was running, overlapping and spreading like the good old days.

Amazing what happens when you don’t play someone who can’t even reach half rat power
 

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May 6, 2007
39,099
22,789
South East Suburbs
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Tottenham Hotspurs, Melbourne Vixen
Probably the biggest positive from last night.

Was always known for his ability to read the play and he appears to have lost none of it.

The lack of foot speed can be counteracted by that ability to read the play. A real shining light despite running out of gas late.


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