Essendon VFL defender Aaron Heppell hoping to emulate older brother Dyson and earn AFL opportunity
Tim Michell, Moonee Valley Leader
August 3, 2016 7:00am
GAMES of kick-to-kick inevitably became fierce contests at the Heppell house.
Growing up in Leongatha, the youngest of the Heppell brothers, Aaron, had his elder siblings Dyson and Jamin to contend with.
But the 21-year-old was rarely fazed — he thrived on the competition.
“Me and Dyson, we were the two most competitive blokes in Leongatha I reckon,” Heppell said.
“We were always making a hell of a racket.
“Mum would always tell us to calm it down in the front yard.
“We were all really competitive, and my oldest brother Jamin as well. All three of us are really competitive boys.”
Aaron’s tenacity was a key reason he featured in 36 TAC Cup games over two years with Gippsland Power, before joining Essendon’s VFL side.
Last year, he mixed duties in the Gippsland League with a burgeoning VFL career.
Aaron played 16 senior games for Leongatha in 2015, including its grand final loss to Traralgon, in which he was named the Parrots’ best player.
But Heppell’s local club has been able to call on him only once this year due to his increased commitments with Essendon.
“I played the majority of (last) season there and then played six with Essendon,” Heppell said.
“I qualified for finals back there, went back and lost the grand final with Leongatha.
“I lost the (VFL) prelim and then lost the granny two weeks in a row.”
The 181cm defender has become a key component of the Bombers’ backline, featuring in 14 matches this season to take his career tally to 29 VFL games.
“I had no real big expectations coming into this year,” he said.
“Trying to play some consistent footy and find a spot within the side.
“I think I’ve managed to do that throughout the year. The opportunity that I’ve been given has been great by Ego (coach Matthew Egan) and the coaches.
“I spoke to the coaches at the end of last year and they said the key focus areas for me were probably my speed and kicking.
“I knuckled down on them over the pre-season and that has allowed me to play some more consistent footy.”
Aaron Heppell marks strongly for Essendon. Picture: Mark Stewart.
Aaron and Dyson play different roles, but they share a common trait possessed by most footballers — a hatred of losing even the smallest contest.
“He’s rarely beaten in one-on-ones, he’s just very competitive, he doesn’t want to lose,” Essendon VFL operations manager Ash Brown said of Aaron.
“This year he’s added another dimension to his game as a defender, playing on a range of opponents, tall and small.
“He can actually play a little bit taller than what he is and that’s been quite handy for us if we’ve wanted to go a bit smaller with our defenders and our backline (to) provide us with a bit more run and attack.”
Brown said Heppell had left no stone unturned to improve his game.
“He’s one of the hardest workers at the club in terms of the AFL and VFL on his game,” he said.
“He just keeps improving and getting better each time he steps out for us.”
Aaron hopes that drive will help him emulate Dyson, who has played 106 AFL games since being drafted in 2010, by earning an opportunity at the elite level.
“That’s the dream, to make it onto an AFL list,” he said.
“That’s what most of the boys are working at as well.
“At the moment I’m just happy playing some good, consistent VFL footy and if that opportunity presents and there was a spot on an AFL list, that would be unreal.”
Heppell said Nash Holmes, another Gippsland Power product who linked up with Essendon VFL this year, was an exciting prospect.
“I was pretty surprised that he didn’t get drafted initially, but I was stoked when I heard we’d got him down on the VFL list,” he said.
“He’s going about his footy exactly the same way as he was in TAC Cup. It’s pretty awesome to see for a first-year player.”
