Dyson Heppell

Dyson Heppell (born 14 May 1992) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Heppell won the AFL Rising Star award in his first season in 2011, and won a Crichton Medal and All-Australian selection in 2014. He has served as Essendon captain since the 2017 season.

Dyson Heppell
Heppell playing for Essendon in 2018
Personal information
Full name Dyson Heppell
Date of birth (1992-05-14) 14 May 1992
Place of birth Leongatha, Victoria
Original team(s) Gippsland Power (TAC Cup)
Draft No. 8, 2010 national draft
Debut Round 1, 2011, Essendon
vs. Western Bulldogs, at Etihad Stadium
Height 189 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 84 kg (185 lb)
Position(s) Midfielder / defender
Club information
Current club Essendon
Number 21
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2011– Essendon 172 (60)
International team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
2015 Australia 1 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of the 2020 season.
2 State and international statistics correct as of 2015.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life

Heppell began playing football with Leongatha Football Club,[1] and played for Gippsland Power in the TAC Cup for the 2009 and 2010 seasons.[2] Named as Gippsland's captain for the 2010 season,[3] Heppell also played for the Victorian Country side at the 2010 AFL Under 18 Championships, where he was named in the All-Australian team.[4] At 189 cm,[2] he played as a "line-breaking defender"[3] for the first half of the 2010 season, before moving into the midfield for the second half of the season.[3]

Heppell finished strongly in the Morrish Medal count, which is awarded to the best and fairest player in the TAC Cup regular season, eventually tying for the award with Jackson Sketcher of the Sandringham Dragons, after achieving the maximum votes possible from rounds 13 to 17.[5] Despite finishing the regular season in sixth place on the ladder, both Gippsland and Heppell had a good finals series. He accumulated 36 disposals in an elimination final victory and was named best on ground in the preliminary final win to qualify for the TAC Cup Grand Final.[6] In a stark contrast to the rest of his season, Heppell had a relatively poor game in the grand final, gathering only 20 touches, as the Power were outclassed by the Calder Cannons by 56 points.[7]

AFL career
Heppell kicking for goal in 2015

Despite his performance in the grand final, Heppell was an impressive performer at the AFL draft camp,[8] and was touted by many as being a potential top five draft pick in the 2010 national draft,[9] with some even claiming he could go as high as top three.[6] Most speculation suggested that the Brisbane Lions would select Heppell with pick five,[9] who with his "silky"[4] skills and raking left foot, modelled his style on the Lions' own Josh Drummond.[2]

In the week before the draft, however, a rumour, which Heppell denied, began circulating that he was suffering from groin problems.[9] Due to this, Essendon, which had the eighth selection, became interested that he might fall to their pick, and Heppell spoke to newly appointed coach, James Hird, days before the draft.[4] Hird, who said he had been interested in Heppell for months, believed that Heppell would be selected well before Essendon had the chance to draft him, but when Heppell did slide back due to the groin concerns, Essendon selected him ahead of midfielders Dion Prestia and Shaun Atley. Heppell, who supported the Bombers as a child and had "idolised" Hird while growing up, said that getting drafted by Essendon was "like a dream".[4]

Heppell received the first Rising Star nomination for 2011 after recording 20 possessions in his debut AFL match, against the Western Bulldogs in round 1.[10] In his first season, he played every match of the home and away season and was described as a major contributor in helping Essendon make the finals. Throughout the year, and leading into the vote count, Heppell was widely considered to be the favourite for the Ron Evans Medal, awarded to the rising star of each season.[11] He won the medal, polling 44 of a possible 45 votes and became the first Essendon player to win the award. Heppell described winning the award as "a dream come true".[12]

He continued his ascent as an emerging star by finishing third in the clubs best and fairest award count, Essendon's best and fairest award; his second consecutive top-three placing. Having played his first two seasons largely off half-back, Heppell moved into a ball-winning role in the midfield in 2013, averaging 24 disposals for the season. He polled three Brownlow Medal votes for his 36-possession and two-goal effort against Melbourne in round 2 and was in the best players for the comeback win over Carlton in round 11.

Heppell continued his upward climb throughout the 2014 season, winning his maiden Crichton Medal,[13] receiving his first selection in the All-Australian team,[14] and polled 14 votes in the 2014 Brownlow Medal.

Heppell, along with 33 other Essendon players, whilst not returning a positive test was found guilty of using a banned performance-enhancing substance, thymosin beta-4, as part of Essendon's sports supplements program during the 2012 season. He and his team-mates were initially found not guilty in March 2015 by the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal,[15] but a guilty verdict was returned in January 2016 after an appeal by the World Anti-Doping Agency. He was suspended for two years which, with backdating, ended in November 2016; as a result, he served approximately fourteen months of his suspension and missed the entire 2016 AFL season.[16]

In February 2017, Heppell was announced as Essendon's new captain, taking over from Brendon Goddard.[17] In December 2019, Heppell (who was already contracted until 2020) signed a two-year contract extension with Essendon, keeping him at the club until 2022, and retained the captaincy for a fourth season.[18]

Statistics
Statistics are correct to the end of the 2020 season.[19]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
AFL playing statistics
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2011Essendon21 2334262231493132630.10.211.410.021.45.72.74
2012Essendon21 2033250180430113590.20.212.59.021.55.63.03
2013Essendon21 1981126919246188740.40.614.210.124.34.63.910
2014Essendon21 2266332294626116990.30.315.113.428.45.34.514
2015Essendon21 22138304262566871050.60.413.811.925.74.04.810
2016Essendon21 0——————————————0
2017Essendon21 23128314292606118960.50.313.712.726.35.14.214
2018Essendon21 22104327263590122870.50.214.912.026.85.54.013
2019Essendon21 184523024347398520.20.312.813.526.35.42.93
2020[lower-alpha 1]Essendon21 311152540430.30.35.08.313.31.31.00
Career 17260502303198242858786380.30.313.411.524.95.13.771

Notes

  1. The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Honours and achievements

Individual

References
  1. Waterworth, Ben (9 February 2017). "Leongatha locals Dyson Heppell, Jarryd Roughead two of only 18 AFL captains for 2017 season". Fox Sports.
  2. Quayle, Emma (17 November 2010). "Picks of the draft: Dyson Heppell". The Age. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  3. Ralph, Jon (20 November 2010). "Dons picked middle man Dyson Heppell". Herald Sun. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  4. Gullan, Scott (18 November 2010). "Dream comes true for Bomber fan Dyson Heppell in AFL national draft". Herald Sun. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  5. McEvoy, Simon (6 September 2010). "Morrish medals for Sketcher, Hepppell". Herald Sun.
  6. Diamond, Brent (12 September 2010). "Heppell shaping as high draft pick". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  7. McNicol, Adam (19 September 2010). "Wallis impresses with 47-touch final". Australian Football League. Archived from the original on 6 October 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  8. McNicol, Adam (2 November 2010). "Heppell's hands fastest". Australian Football League. Archived from the original on 7 October 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  9. Clark, Jay (17 November 2010). "Scans spark draft doubt for Dyson Heppell". Herald Sun. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  10. Holmesby, Luke (29 March 2011). "NAB AFL Rising Star round one: Dyson Heppell". AFL.com.au.
  11. Sheahan, Mike; Robinson, Mark; Clark, Jay (7 September 2011). "Dyson Heppell tipped to win the AFL's NAB Rising Star Award". Herald Sun. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
  12. Bradshaw, Finn (7 September 2011). "Essendon Bombers Dyson Heppell wins Rising Star". Herald Sun. Australian Associated Press. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
  13. Baker, Grant (1 October 2014). "Dyson Heppell claims his first Essendon club championship, the Crichton Medal". Herald Sun.
  14. Twomey, Callum (16 September 2014). "Thirteen fresh faces in 2014's new-look All Australian side". AFL.com.au.
  15. Twomey, Callum (31 March 2015). "Thirty-four present and former Bombers cleared of all drug charges". AFL.com.au. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  16. Travis King (12 January 2016). "Guilty: court bans the Essendon 34 for 2016". Australian Football League. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  17. Williams, Rebecca (8 February 2017). "Dyson Heppell named Essendon captain for 2017". Herald Sun. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  18. "Top Don locked in until 2022, stays skipper for another year". afl.com.au. Australian Associated Press. 17 December 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  19. "Dyson Heppell". AFL Tables. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
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