Leadership Group 2018 - Announced

I agree.I’m not necessarily advocating a change. But timing is everything.

In an alternate universe where jobe stayed captain I suspect Heppell would not be captain in 2018…

I think timing may be unkind to zerret

I disagree.
Heppell was always next in line.
A lot of people have short memories about Heppell. He had an up & down year. Between re-adjusting tonthe tempo of the game after 12 months out, to having added responsibility of leading the club.

It’s not uncommon for a new captain to struggle in his first year as captain.
Merrett had enough to worry about, in terms of dealing with taggers.

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Remember the first game when Hepp marked on the 50, turned to a petulant BJ who was demanding the ball, and said “I’ve got this”.
Went back and nailed the goal.

Great captaincy, and set us up to move forward as a team.
No one else is capable of that yet.

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Hyperbole bullocks.

Goddard wants the ball when the game is on. he’s a winner. Nobody was happier when hepp sunk that than BJ.

And nobody else is capable of that. Fkn please.

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Also I don’t think BJ himself wanted the ball, for memory he was telling Hepp that Langford? was all by himself about 20m out from goal

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So which other potential captain was going to
a) not give the ball to BJ when he demanded it?

  • BJ can be great but too often demands the ball when he is in a poorer position
    B) demonstrate the ability to sink a “captains goal” at a key moment - stamp your authority as a leader in Round one
    And
    c) indicate that 2017 was going to be very different in tone, not just a repeat of 2015?

Give Hepp the credit he deserves as captain.
It’s amazing that in hindsight the knockers of his 2017 have come out in force, when during the year people were generally full of praise for him standing up at key times.
Perspective please.
(You say hyperbole I say potato)

Dude, I have a jumper with Heppell 21 on.the back.

I’m a fanboy from way back.

But, generally speaking he did not impact games like he has in previous years, key 1-1 matchup didn’t go his way at times and if he didn’t improve next year I’d be gutted. By his standards he was average last year.

And, your example is just creative storytelling. I believe as pointed out by @True_Value_Blitzer I do now think I recall Goddard calling for him to pass to somone else not BJ himself.

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When the people arguing are both wrong lol. Hepp even acknowledged he should’ve passed to Langford.

As captain Hepp did the right thing. It was probably outside his range but he hit it sweetly and we all know the importance of a ‘Captains’ goal against traditional rivals.

Goddard is very much a team driven player who has played under guys like Ross Lyon where team structure is very important so it’s no surprise that he was calling for Hepp to do the team thing.

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Oh, how?

fuxed

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I don’t have a crazy awesome memory like others on here so specifics are hard.

But it’s fair to say he was poor in both games against Sydney. He butchered the footy a lot in certain games including FCFC and he didn’t lift the team in other matches like he has in the past.

I think Hepp’s season perception has been helped by Round 1 where played one of the best captains games at Essendon for years. But that was his high. By a long long way.

I’ve said it a few times now. When your captain is being beaten head to head it’s not a good thing. I’d suggest Hepp lost more 1-1 match ups last year than he did in his previous 50 games combined. But, for the love of God don’t ask me to list every example.

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Hepp’s best game was against Port.
Apart from 1 dreadful fluffed kick to Fanta which resulted in a Port goal, he played a brilliant game.

You’re avoiding your original comment “Hepp struggled as an on field leader” which started this discussion by conflating it with Hepps general form.
Particularly “head to head form ”,
which given he’s part of a midfield Group is pretty hard to justify as it depends on an individual match up that’s in your perception.
Sorry I may have remembered Hepps captains goal incorrectly.
How bout you seperate your leadership comments from whether it was Hepps best season or not?

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As a captain the outright flukiest kick of your career was for the best for the team.

i doubt he’ll ever get a set shot to go that far again.

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I think he kicked one from outside 50 against Freo in Perth as well.

I just about fell off my fkg chair.

I think that’s why Goddard was telling him to offload it.

I didn’t think he could make it either.

Heppell’s long goal is the most overanalysed piece of play from 2017. Someone misses an opportunity to pass the ball to a player in a better position every game, regardless of whether they tell BJ to settle down in the process or not.

And yes Heppell did kick a couple more from similar range later in the year. His kicking definitely had a bit more penetration last season.

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How are people questioning Heppell’s leadership? The bloke led a team to finals with half the players never playing together.
Off field he is also our best leader, he promotes our club better than anyone with his charisma.

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No I’m not.

Form and leadership are not mutually exclusive either. Haven’t changed my opinion on it at all. I had this same opinion during last season as well.

Heppells on field leadership was arguably less impactful than his previous years when he wasn’t the captain.