Retired #21: Dyson Heppell - Goodnight, sweet prince. What a legend! 🤙 - 24/8

[RedmanWasHere]

Can almost hear Sheeds whispering in the background..."At least he looks like a footballer now"

As opposed to:

Early career Harvs.
2001 Solomon.
Anderson, early career Grenvold and O'Brien.
Van Der Haar.

 

[FootyGuru]

You are right. But that’s when everything works perfectly….which isn’t always. Where the kick is off there are opportunities to react and close down. Have seen McGrath and Redman do it many times.

But even within the zone his speed is an issue. At the game yesterday it was clear to me how agressive our defensive positioning is and he and Lav both struggled at times to close space given the latitude they provided the opposition.

on the lead, yes you can blame Heppell for his lack of leg speed. But when the ball gets out the back you can’t blame hep for not chasing it down. Positioning mostly gets effected by our players entry kick, more so than people getting beaten on leads. Shallow entries usually end up In the zone getting beaten the other way.

 

[Foxx]

Last night was his best game this year by a long way and there were still a number of errors that don’t show up in the stats. I mentioned them last night, within the space of 10 minutes in the 2nd quarter he went back looking to mark instead of punching and it resulted in a goal (he did it later in the quarter and marked it and then finally punched in the 3rd quarter), he then kicked the ball inside 50m after a mark (nice mark too) and he kicked it 10-15 metres short of our talls and was to the Saints advantage.

There seems to be an emphasis by a lot of Essendon people on Dysons mistakes, over just about every other player in our team - who make just as many or more.

 

[Nifft]

I didn't think he should've played on this year, but he's proven me wrong. Keep up the good work Dys.

 

[jannissary]

There is this for Hepp though;

View attachment 1945107

he’s been great but the inherent bias associated with disliking someone really makes it hard to see that he’s been great. i’m the same, everyone is

he does make costly mistakes, sometimes, though

 

[The Donners]

There seems to be an emphasis by a lot of Essendon people on Dysons mistakes, over just about every other player in our team - who make just as many or more.

Why is that you think? I think it’s because he’s the only guaranteed starter regardless of form. He’s treated differently.

 

[fairbump_playon]

No coach creates a structure for a broken structure. They aren’t going to blame Heppell for not covering a broken structure because of foot speed.

They will blame him if he slow to get to position, or lets the ball over his head. Those things he is very good at.

Blame Heppell for not having leg speed on a lead or getting turned around going to stoppage. Not for being unable to catch a footy in a broken zone

Hmmm I think it would be a wise coach who plans for Plan A to fall down every now and then

The zone is broken to some degree for most of every match. Skills are going to break down. You ideally pick players who can play to the plan and react and recover quickly when the plan falls apart

 

[Mercurial89]

Didn't go to ground as much which was better still a good judge of the ball in the air, disposal is just as poor as it has been for years, that's not age related. If he judges something wrong he has no ability to make up for it due to his physical limitations, so he's playing a very good mental game.

He still shouldn't have been offered a contract but that doesn't preclude him from having good games.

 

[Foxx]

Why is that you think? I think it’s because he’s the only guaranteed starter regardless of form. He’s treated differently.

He was dropped early last year.

 

[boncer34]

Yesterday is the level we expect every week from a player in his role. Pleasing to see him do it yesterday but he doesn't do it every week.

 

[The Donners]

He was dropped early last year.

How many touches did he get in the VFL before making his way back into the senior side?

 

[Milanista28]

Pressure up the ground was on yesterday, that helps the back 6/7 especially him, when the pressure is off he'll look exposed.

Hopefully the pressure stays high, the backline deserves respite, they've been smashed for years.

Deserves votes for yesterday, well done Hep.

 

[Foxx]

How many touches did he get in the VFL before making his way back into the senior side?

That's not even the reason anyway mate.

 

[ant555]

Bag him all you want. He was in the best 4 on the ground. No need to be sticking the voodoo doll this week.

 

[Zach Package]

Bloke is on tin legs and still works harder than 95% of the AFL.

His spot is there for the taking, you’ve just got to demonstrate you’re willing to take it off him.

 

[katana]

View attachment 1954779

Bloke is on tin legs and still works harder than 95% of the AFL.

His spot is there for the taking, you’ve just got to demonstrate you’re willing to take it off him.

surely this is mostly a function of time on ground? he doesn't 'work harder' than anyone lol. he's never been near the top of our time trials. he mostly plods arounds for 2 hours racking up kilometres. i guess that's what makes a good footballer for us hey...

i suppose i shouldn't even bother given it's the 'tom scully medal' a player who virtually everyone agrees was mediocre. so what is the point of this stat?

 

[Rick Ross]

At least he is not alone. I think we have around 10 whipping boys atm.

Name and rank top 10 whipping boys?

Hepp ain’t in my top 5…

My list (1. Being the biggest whipping boy):
1. Weiderman - recruited to play forward
2. Weiderman - trialled back
3. Hind - on the rise post elbow & port brain farts
4. Kelly - steady in 4
5. McGrath - dropped 6 places after first 3 games then jumped back up 2 after port
6. Hepple - felt that this being the Hepple thread, he should have been higher but go read the other threads
6.5 Sheil - mostly because of the deal
7. Tsatas - solid here at 7
8. Menzie - feel like the guys who don’t come with a price tag / high pick get some leeway
9. Jones - down 7 after last 2 weeks
10. Stringer - down but on the rise again

Honourable mention Parish.

 

[Duckworth]

Name and rank top 10 whipping boys?

Hepp ain’t in my top 5…

My list (1. Being the biggest whipping boy):
1. Weiderman - recruited to play forward
2. Weiderman - trialled back
3. Hind - on the rise post elbow & port brain farts
4. Kelly - steady in 4
5. McGrath - dropped 6 places after first 3 games then jumped back up 2 after port
6. Hepple - felt that this being the Hepple thread, he should have been higher but go read the other threads
6.5 Sheil - mostly because of the deal
7. Tsatas - solid here at 7
8. Menzie - feel like the guys who don’t come with a price tag / high pick get some leeway
9. Jones - down 7 after last 2 weeks
10. Stringer - down but on the rise again

Honourable mention Parish.

No Cox love?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Rick Ross]

No Cox love?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Got point.
Must have been My Boy bias… I only read his “feedback” as constructive criticism.

 

[Zach Package]

surely this is mostly a function of time on ground? he doesn't 'work harder' than anyone lol. he's never been near the top of our time trials. he mostly plods arounds for 2 hours racking up kilometres. i guess that's what makes a good footballer for us hey...

i suppose i shouldn't even bother given it's the 'tom scully medal' a player who virtually everyone agrees was mediocre. so what is the point of this stat?

Would have thought that’s exactly the point. I would say even in his pomp before his legs left I would say strong runner, not super elite runner though.

Now it’s pure hard yakka, if it was a function of time on ground there would be plenty of footballers cruising past him but the harsh reality is that they are clearly not putting in like he does on a week to week basis.

Given this side’s issue is week to week baseline effort, you can certainly understand why he is getting picked.

As an aside. Most of the footballers in the screenshot above are high 80’s tog and into the 90’s, Heppell is at 86 and the ones at below 86 are the endurance superfreaks that break records and blow up GPS units, fair company for a bloke with spaghetti legs.

 

[faible]

Would have thought that’s exactly the point. I would say even in his pomp before his legs left I would say strong runner, not super elite runner though.

Now it’s pure hard yakka, if it was a function of time on ground there would be plenty of footballers cruising past him but the harsh reality is that they are clearly not putting in like he does on a week to week basis.

Given this side’s issue is week to week baseline effort, you can certainly understand why he is getting picked.

As an aside. Most of the footballers in the screenshot above are high 80’s tog and into the 90’s, Heppell is at 86 and the ones at below 86 are the endurance superfreaks that break records and blow up GPS units, fair company for a bloke with spaghetti legs.

Heppell isn't (and never has been) fast, but he just keeps going. People underestimate how hard he's working because they remember the times he's been caught lagging behind an opposition forward.

Has always had a great read of the play and can put together decent games when our midfield isn't allowing rapid, unpressured entries into the D50. When you get a game like Port the other night it's pretty hard for any defender to set up properly, and if you're lacking the leg speed to play catchup, you'll be run off a lot.

 

[sup3rfish]

Really rate his year so far. He knows his spot is up for grabs and is showing what passion for the jumper is and what any afl game should mean when given any opportunity. He is playing like his spot is on the line. Credit where it is due.

 

[jannissary]

i agree with the sentiment expressed over the past few days. generally speaking he's not been our best, but he's been pretty dependable in defense so far this year. as with everyone though it's those minor errors and **** ups that people remember.

 

[ghostdog]

Keeps justifying not retiring. And plays with edge. Good problem to have.

 

[Ambrosia]

Been a big hater but jeez he was good. Actually won contests and used the ball well

 

[joey_jo_jo]

Outbodied english in a marking contest.....probably says alot about english too though