AFL Player #21: Dyson Heppell - Calls time - 13/8

[Lore]

Contract Status: Unrestricted Free Agent 2024
My Boy Draft 2024: Pick 27, Highly Evolved

 

[ghostdog]

Yep, I have admired a lot about his footy and leadership at times over the years. He was arguably the right guy for a few years there post Jobe. As much as Worsfold was. Rutten was never gonna be strong enough to rock that boat, but there was also a serious lack of alternative leaders when he arrived.

Dyson’s comments just so blatantly belong in an era we need to leave asap. Just reeks of saga to me. Imagine how much Selwood, Pendlebury & Cotchin would have laughed on reading them.. “typical Bombers ha ha”.

It’s so hard to win a flag. Players need to be absolutely obsessive and find something magical together. You will never, ever get there unless your leaders are burning up with hunger.

To me him saying that makes it untenable for him to play 1s. Contentment is a cancer at the elite level.

It’s time to help the 2s feel good about life now Dys. Don’t let the slaps hit you on the back on your way out.

Agreed. Mason actually verbalising that it's time now to stop the rot is exactly what we need.

 

[ghostdog]

How Heppell has found peace with flag pursuit after handing over Essendon captaincy

The veteran is loving his footy post-captaincy.

www.sen.com.au

Should probably read the full interview for context, or least the part of it surrounding your quoted bit;



A bloke almost certainly in the final year of his career, who likely won't be best-22, and in a team that's likely a few years away from genuine Premiership contention has now come to terms and is at peace with what his career has achieved knowing there's pretty much zero chance of winning a flag for him now.

Much less dramatic than your version.

No, he's still part of the playing group and said that he even feels like he's more capable as a leader now. I don't want the message of contentment with losses to be one coming from a leader of the playing group while they're still on the roster. Whether he has the title or not, his leadership as a senior player is implicit. I'd prefer those kinds of nice comments are either after he has retired and left or not made at all.

 

[Beerfish]

He's going to look pretty silly when we win the flag this year.

 

[ghostdog]

I'm with owen87. The man is not winning a flag, it's over. He's at peace with it. Good for him. I've been critical of his leadership over the years, but at this point it is just accepting reality.

Can't really fault anyone who gets bothered by those statements though, as they do seem in character with the lack of drive and the mentality that he has (at least to the outside observer) displayed throughout his leadership tenure.

Isn't that the point though; if you're not hungry then get the hell out. What is he still doing there if the losses are of no consequence.

I know we needed level-headed senior players, and I was thankful he remained in transition last year to support Zach. I'm still a bit non-plussed that he remains. He needs to go.

 

[brain taylor]

No, he's still part of the playing group and said that he even feels like he's more capable as a leader now. I don't want the message of contentment with losses to be one coming from a leader of the playing group while they're still on the roster. Whether he has the title or not, his leadership as a senior player is implicit. I'd prefer those kinds of nice comments are either after he has retired and left or not made at all.

he was asked the question directly lol. if you took “i’ve made peace with the fact that i’ll likely retire without a flag” (which is basically the only option available to him lol) as “i’m happy to lose” then that’s on you dude

 

[ghostdog]

he was asked the question directly lol. if you took “i’ve made peace with the fact that i’ll likely retire without a flag” (which is basically the only option available to him lol) as “i’m happy to lose” then that’s on you dude

I don't doubt he's at peace with not winning. That's fine. Why should I be happy that he remains at the club and says stuff like that? The thing is, if I interpret it that way and others do too, then it's likely some of the playing group could too.

"...at the same time, there’s no part of me that if I was to finish my career, there would be no hole left in me..."

Could sound like, "Yeah nah I've been close enough to the mountain top boys. Doesn't matter. You'll find it's all good. Trust me," whether you like it or not.

 

[Call Me Cake]

Even if you're aware that the likelihood of a premiership is low, it still doesn't make sense to publicly declare that it has absolutely no effect on you.

He didn't have to sulk about it. But to say that it absolutely has no bearing on you, or not having at least hoped that it could have turned out differently so as to inspire your current crop to try and avoid the same fate, presents a very good look into the mentality that lead our playing group for some time.

Your job as a leader is to get the best out of your team by setting an example of striving for success even in the most unconditional circumstances. Instead, he fostered an environment for excuses to be made.

Merrett overtaking him as captain is a significant milestone in this club's history and something that should have been done years ago, and when we look back upon it in years to come it will only become more and more evident.

He was a good servant of the club, a great human being, but a terrible leader.

 

[DERO]

I may be Robinson Crusoe here but I actually rate Heppell and the contribution he has made as a player and a leader at the club.

Come at me leadership experts.

 

[ghostdog]

I may be Robinson Crusoe here but I actually rate Heppell and the contribution he has made as a player and a leader at the club.

Come at me leadership experts.

He was a good leader for wellbeing and a mediocre leader for football success.

 

[jmoo wan]

or, and this is crazy i know, maybe let him play out his last year and retire with some of his dignity intact?

 

[Vander18]

I may be Robinson Crusoe here but I actually rate Heppell and the contribution he has made as a player and a leader at the club.

Come at me leadership experts.

I rated him as a player and as a human.

TBH - I don’t think he or anyone else at the club post-saga knew much about what real leadership looks like.

 

[Yoda_]

or, and this is crazy i know, maybe let him play out his last year and retire with some of his dignity intact?

its the Aussie way to tear someone down

 

[fairbump_playon]

club does a doping scandal, derails the careers of entire list, old champ has been bashed in the media for years and is starting to slow down, appoints his heir apparent with the directive "we just ruined a bunch of careers and put ourselves in everyone's bad books so let's just try and get everyone happy again and enjoy footy", club fails to develop other leaders and tries desperately to squeeze as much of it can out of the list it has, tops up with name brand players just in time for an exodus of key players (woops if only we knew joe didn't wanna be here lol), learnings guy leaves and is replaced with a guy explicitly instructed to be as nice and chill as possible, kids carry on playin' on their phones in class until the substitute teacher is sacked, meanwhile we're still looking for leaders in here, especially since old hepp is held together by a roll of tape and a prayer, but ah well lets just trot him out anyway 'cos at least he does the team stuff (would be nice if anyone else did).

I love captain merrett but he took a long time to become this version of himself, and these wider cultural issues run through the whole club. If you're pinning this much on hepp i think you need to wonder harder.

I’m not pinning it all on Heppell. Didn’t say that anywhere.

I’m just pointing out he’s hopefully the last major part of a problem we all wish was fully in the past.

The club shafted the players so badly during the saga. Lots of broken hearts. Lots of trying to simply love footy again. It all adds up and makes sense.

I appreciate there are other opinions but I personally think every season is alive for at least a dozen clubs and they all should go into round one chasing a flag. We are one of those clubs this year. It’s super unlikely but this group needs to dream big inside the 4 walls. Has Hepp earned the right to not care too much? I would argue no one still on the payroll has the right to let go of that want, because that want is what excellence is made of. In my opinion.

I simply would have loved to hear Dyson say “yeah I still really want it and I’m excited to see how far we can go this year.” I think that’s good for the kids in the team to hear. I think that’s leadership.

Anyhow. Sorry. This molehill has turned into a mountain.

He’s a fundamentally likable bloke. I hope he plays twos most of the year.

 

[fairbump_playon]

The Dangerfield who's not playing for a club that has almost no chance of winning a GF this season, who's not likely in his final season, and who's not likely outside the best-22 for that season? Rather different.

I picked on your process because you selectively quoted one section of his reply, taking all context away, and told everyone that it was the only relevant thing he said.

It's a bad process because the context matters.

Nothing to do with being the smartest guy in the room, I quoted the entirety of what Heppell said so that people can read it within the context it was said and make their own minds up.

I offer plenty of opinions along the way; my opinion is that you took his quote out of context and therefore it does not reflect what he was actually saying, it does however reflect a lot of what you want to tell us he's saying.

So you’re saying there’s a chance?

 

[ghostdog]

or, and this is crazy i know, maybe let him play out his last year and retire with some of his dignity intact?

That was how I felt last year but I expected he'd step down by the end of the year. Not happy that he didn't.

 

[Beerfish]

That was how I felt last year but I expected he'd step down by the end of the year. Not happy that he didn't.

I get it but eh..

 

[Lore]

I rated him as a player and as a human.

TBH - I don’t think he or anyone else at the club post-saga knew much about what real leadership looks like.

Or pre-saga either…

 

[fairbump_playon]

Or pre-saga either…

Bring on the ruthless era.

I feel the likes of Langford and Redman may really thrive more under Merrett than under Heppell. I think they each have that necessary bit of ferocity in them. Redman obviously, but I reckon Langford has something too. More than I initially thought.

I do wonder who will pop up as the leaders of that young group. Tsatas & Hobbs I reckon. Can't see Cox, Perkins or Reid being out front. Caldwell a leader by example but not formally. Caddy a loose cannon.

 

[ghostdog]

Bring on the ruthless era.

I feel the likes of Langford and Redman may really thrive more under Merrett than under Heppell. I think they each have that necessary bit of ferocity in them. Redman obviously, but I reckon Langford has something too. More than I initially thought.

I do wonder who will pop up as the leaders of that young group. Tsatas & Hobbs I reckon. Can't see Cox, Perkins or Reid being out front. Caldwell a leader by example but not formally. Caddy a loose cannon.

Duz, Ridley, and although I've been cheering for Traino, Laverde hates losing.

 

[Vindicater]

Isn't that the point though; if you're not hungry then get the hell out. What is he still doing there if the losses are of no consequence.

I know we needed level-headed senior players, and I was thankful he remained in transition last year to support Zach. I'm still a bit non-plussed that he remains. He needs to go.

There is a difference between non-plussed and realistic.

 

[yodellinhank]

or, and this is crazy i know, maybe let him play out his last year and retire with some of his dignity intact?

They tried that, he opened his god damned mouth before the year had began and threw what dignity he had left out the window.

 

[Kong]

It would be a bigger problem/more annoying if he felt that way the past few seasons, and I'm not willing to rule out that he didn't. He's been a cruisey knacker for a while.

It's clearly a discussion point with people on both sides, hopefully we're all pulling in the win a flag asap direction now.

I have a really vague, "it's the vibe" type memory of one (or more) of the 34 players saying as much when they returned from suspension. Something to the effect of the suspension had changed their perspective and football premierships were no longer that important.

As someone that laughs at how seriously sport is taken, I agree with it. But then again I'm not being paid a lot of money to be good at it.

 

[ant555]

Okay, so essentially guessing you have Martin moving from wing to HBF, Duursma to the wing and Heppell out of the side?

I just can't see Scott playing young guys with Heppell in the VFL. (Edit) - can you see him playing ahead of the likes of Hobbs, Tsatas, Etc.?

Like I said. I think he is 50/50 and most likely bench if he does play but he is not a lock. Martin will be playing half back. Has played every match sim in that spot.

Hobbs will be interesting. Has clearly been the best midfielder in the red team and doing really well going head to head with Parish / Merret and co. IMO he has been as impressive as any midfielder so far this pre season.

Think Tsatas will be VFL early. He is getting a solid pre season under his belt but there have been others who look better right now.

Think you will find Scott does a few different things this year.

 

[DERO]

I rated him as a player and as a human.

TBH - I don’t think he or anyone else at the club post-saga knew much about what real leadership looks like.

Leadership would be much easier with a good list but yes, the fish does rot at the head first.

 

[ghostdog]

There is a difference between non-plussed and realistic.

You're right. The reality is that he should not be there but he is.