He’ll be an even better leader this year.
He’s just doing his job. That thank you for the membership was nice but don’t so much appreciate the club using him to squeeze more cash out of us.
Less time spruiking memberships, more time practicing kicking Dyson.
And why would we be Kicking Dois?? Is this that thing about the hair again?? 
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I think that’s Hird’s influence as a player and a captain.
Hepp still hasn’t peaked imo, still think he’ll shake the brownlow one year.
Im sure he was pulled straight out of training to man the phones
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Could work on his marking a little also
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Needs to trim his hair too, make it a little more conservative.
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Why? It’s fine.
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What the?
Disagree. It is already one of his major strengths.
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I’ll save him the trouble.
“For such a short sentence there are a surprising number of errors. A full stop, or in this case, a question mark is the correct way to conclude.
“Marking a little also” is an idiosyncratic use of adjectives & adverbs, which leads to ambiguity- should Hepp be marking an “also”?
Is there a difference between a “big” and a “little also”, and if so is Hepp fine at marking “big also’s” but not “little also’s”?
You see what I’m getting at?
Marking of the above statement - 3/10”
Now Hepp can concentrate on his footy, without having to correct your use of English.
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Long day?
Please go back to Langford thread and contain yourself there.
You go ahead and I will meet you there
If only you were as generous with your praise for our captain as you are for a guy who has barely done anything yet.
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Why do you hate Langford?
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Well played sir
“If I only you” surely needs some examination…?
Does anyone have the Herald Sun article about Heppell’s captaincy that’s in the paper today?
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Selfless captain Dyson Heppell has nurtured a happy family at Essendon
March 06, 2019
Dyson Heppell didn’t have to bang on about premiership windows.
When the Essendon captain sat down over a latte with Dylan Shiel and a few Bombers’ teammates in an Elwood cafe in October, it was clear the former Giants’ midfielder had already drilled down on the Bombers’ prospects.
From age demographics, to on-field strengths and weaknesses and the fitness department, Shiel had done his homework.
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But the point of that crucial meeting which got Essendon’s No.1 recruiting target across the line, Heppell said, was “much more personal” than ladder predictions and game plan chat.
“More than anything, it was really about showing him who we were as people,” Heppell said.
“And I think he really enjoyed that.
“Because what I found out really quickly that day was that he had already done all the research he needed on us.
“He knew all of our players and where he thought we sat. It was more about the connection between us.”
Carlton had already flown Shiel by private jet to a flashy lunch in Noosa, Hawthorn had the greatest coach in the caper leading its chase, and St Kilda had about $1.2 million a year piled high on the table.
For a while, it looked like the Bombers, whose offer was about $400,000-a-year less, were fourth in line.
Selflessness and care are among Essendon captain Dyson Heppell’s leadership traits. Picture: David Caird
But at a time when clubs are trying desperately to forge stronger bonds in the inner sanctum, Heppell’s genuine warmth and friendliness struck a chord with the midfield jet as Shiel, maybe somewhat surprisingly, picked the Bombers.
Heppell, the son of a pair of Leongatha lifesavers, had come up big for the Bombers, again.
In a way, the third-year skipper and All-Australian has carved out a career sacrificing his own game to clear space or create opportunities for teammates.
The Rising Star winner is the yin to Essendon’s ballistic midfield yang.
And Heppell, 26, can’t wait to put on more blocks and feed out more hard balls to his flashier midfield teammates such as Zach Merrett, Shiel and Orazio Fantasia, among others, next season.
For Heppell, he is happiest helping others, and as captain, that selflessness and care for his teammates have become his signature leadership traits.
Maybe it runs in the Heppell blood, because his brother, Aaron, is now captain of the Bombers’ VFL team, too.
“Hopefully, I think that sums me up as a captain, because I try and be just a really caring bloke,” Heppell said.
“I really want to try and instil that in the rest of the playing group, because everyone is going to get their bite of the cherry at some stage.
“We are building a lot of depth, especially through our midfield and we really need to have that mindset, because each week will be different in regards to who steps up, who performs well and who is going to spend more time in there.
“Something I really want to drive is that selfless type of behaviour.”
Dyson Heppell motivating his teammates during Essendon’s JLT Series game against Carlton last week. Picture: Getty Images
While the footy spotlight can shine brightly on the top stats-getters and vote-pollers each week, the only “bite of the cherry” Heppell truly wants is in September, and ultimately, up on the premiership dais.
It has been a long time since Essendon last won a final (over Melbourne in 2004).
A lifelong Bombers’ fan, Heppell desperately wants some genuine success, and especially for the teammates and fans who suffered through the club’s darkest chapter a few years ago.
“It’s getting to that point where all you want to do is just have some success with these boys,” he said.
“I want to build something special and obviously we haven’t had a lot (of success) in the time since I’ve been there or even a long time prior to that, either. So, it would be enormous.
“The number of fans who have stuck by us through some pretty gritty periods is unbelievable.
“It would be amazing to repay that faith and experience some success and emotion together.”
But for all of the club’s offensive weapons, they have to defend better, and new assistant coach Ben Rutten has made some important changes to help contain the opposition.
Heppell with Essendon coach John Worsfold. Picture: Michael Klein
Cale Hooker’s six-week calf setback hasn’t helped, but Heppell is confident they’ll make gains there this year.
“It’s been a big focus,” he said.
“That’s going to take time, but we are getting there and improving that.”
For Heppell, the Bombers’ top-four charge in 2019 will be Essendon’s second coming.
The 151-gamer was there when Essendon rose to second on the ladder at Round 18 in 2013 under James Hird, and threatened to challenge for a flag, before things began to fall apart amid a crippling run of hamstring injuries.
Then the supplements crisis took hold. Players left and the club sank. Heppell re-signed, in a major show of loyalty, and then the resurrection began.
The Gippsland product isn’t bitter that that top-four opportunity either slipped, or was taken away.
He’s no longer angry he lost a year of his career, either, to the drugs ban.
Dylan Shiel was drawn to the Bombers because of Heppell and the playing group. Picture: Getty Images
The best-and-fairest winner made his peace with that whole, devastating chapter.
And the smile has well and truly returned, as he begins a new phase of his business life, setting up the first of a series of new tech-savvy Body Fit gyms in Exhibition St, in the city.
“In terms of having any sort of inkling of holding on to the past, I’m a clean slate,” he said.
“Whatever you want to call it, I’ve forgiven, I’ve forgotten, I’ve moved on.
“I’m a very understanding and forgiving person.
“And for me to be the best leader, best captain and best player I can be, I had to get rid of that (anger). I had to drop that.
“It comes down to the old thing of really putting things into perspective and concentrating on what really does matter.
“I’m not someone who worries about the past and what’s happened, I’m always excited for what’s next.
“There is a massive buzz around the club at the moment, and we are really going to embrace that.”
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