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

[Lore]

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

 

[m7jebus]

How can you be out of thw contest if you keep your feet?

I'm not a fan of questioning any ones hardness in the Mickey mouse competition that is the NAB cup.

When 'keeping your feet' means you don't get to the contest at all, as happened in the incident I was talking about. Obviously most people on here don't think this is an issue with Heppell, and I hope that's the case - I'm just saying I've seen him do it a few times when I really think it was turn to go and take a hit (and to clarify, he's been superb with anything in the air - it's the 50/50 ball on the deck, and his wussy tackling, that I'm concerned with).

ANYWAY, enough on that. Fyfe or Heppell? Nat for me, with the only issue being his injury record.

 

[The Bomb]

Heppell and Fyfe both won AFLCA best young players. so as long as we have 1 of them.

Reading so many on BF a team is better off with a hard nut like Lonergan than a classy player like Heppell.

 

[Ambrosia]

When 'keeping your feet' means you don't get to the contest at all, as happened in the incident I was talking about.

I think we have different definitions of being out of the contest. When you keep your feet you are still free to tackle and apply pressure to the opposition.

 

[Burzum]

Here's one for Lance Uppercut

Hepp or Fyfe?

At this point I'd take Fyfe but it certainly could change after this season.

 

[Ben the Gooner]

Fyfe. Once in a generation player IMO. (By generation I mean 5 years of drafting I guess)

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Said it when we drafted him...we got the 2nd best player in the draft (behind Swallow and that is okay as Swallow will be a gun). I stand by my comments. Nothing has changed my mind, great disposals, and great leadership. We all knew it would take 3 seasons to get his body right...we are STARTING to see it. Watch out in 2-3 years, dead set Brownlow type of player and we will be lucky to have 2 of them (Jobe as well).

 

[blitzer]

Personally I'd rather have Heppell. Fyfe is always friggen injured and those shoulders seem like they will plague him for the rest of his career. Essendon have enough injury prone players as it is. Its nice to have someone that actually makes it out on the park regularly. No denying Fyfe's talent though, but time will tell whether his best is seen regularly (talking injury concerns here not talent), whereas I feel like Heppell can just develop into one of those ultra consistent week in week out performers which is exactly what we need.

 

[quotemokc]

Fyfe is gonna suffer from the amount of pressure he already has to burden. Freo fans expect almost as much from him as they do Pavlich.

When he was injured they were treating it as if their most important midfielder was out.

 

[yaco55]

Said it when we drafted him...we got the 2nd best player in the draft (behind Swallow and that is okay as Swallow will be a gun). I stand by my comments. Nothing has changed my mind, great disposals, and great leadership. We all knew it would take 3 seasons to get his body right...we are STARTING to see it. Watch out in 2-3 years, dead set Brownlow type of player and we will be lucky to have 2 of them (Jobe as well).

I am confident that Heppell will end up better than Swallow - Not by much - But better.

 

[Fatrollo]

I hope my post isn't out of place here given the team I support, but I was curious as to whether people on here believe that Heppell has the stamina in his game at the moment to play as a predominantly full time midfielder yet or not? At first glance it would seem that the top five midfielders for Essendon would be Watson, Goddard, Stanton, Zaharakis, and Heppell (assuming he makes the transition) but do you guys believe that he will make that move this year, or will it be another year or two of playing as a rebounding half-back as part of the midfield rotation?

Also in regards to the conversation before about him perhaps slightly short stepping contests, it may be a matter of confidence in his body to be able to take these sorts of hits now compared to his first two seasons. He clearly isn't a small man and has now had a few pre-seasons, but it may just be that he hasn't quite grasped the confidence in that he can use his body much harder than he perhaps has for the first couple of years and during his junior years. A reasonable comparison would be Luke Breust for Hawthorn when he took that rather huge hit to the head early last season. Beforehand, he wasn't exactly known for a maniacal attack on the football, however afterwards it became very noticeable in how much more confident he was in going for a ground level contest, very much shown in his increase in tackles as well. He clearly gained the confidence that his body could take these hits and he essentially was no longer afraid of the physicality that he may have been a bit hesitant towards earlier in his career, and I can't help but potentially see parallels with Heppell.

Again, sorry if my post is out of place, just thought I might give my views on him.

 

[yaco55]

Too much emphasis on being hard. Smart players go hard when its absolutely necessary - No point going in hard as a show of strength and not end up with the ball.

 

[Ess_don]

Agreed.

Lesser players like Mitch Robinson can go ahead and keep using his head as a battering ram (losing what little precious brain cells he has left) as thats all he has. Heppell can still win or assist in a pack situation in a more intelligent and classy manner.

We'll let Watson, Myers, Hocking, Howlett and Hal Hunter () do all the dirty work.

 

[TD]

I would have thought keeping your feet was a huge advantage with the new sliding rule?

 

[daffo]

I'd rather Fyfe. I love Heppell but I think Fyfe can be top 3 in the comp.

 

[lamaros]

[color=][/color]To the Hawks supporter:

Top five mid is Watson, Stanton, Goddard, Zakarakis, Howlett.

Howlett is seriously underrated.

On Heppell: saw a few signs in his tackling that he was stronger in the tackle and more focused on the body when he needed to be. I think that's a good sign, he used to get brushed off and didn't stick them before too often.

 

[Pweter]

Fyfe's aerial game is far superior so Heppell will need to improve markedly in this space to overtake Fyfe going forwards, or take his ground game to a whole new level.

Don't get me wrong, I'm stoked with Heppell's output thus far and have massive hopes for the player he'll become (or should become), but Fyfe is at another level at this point in time.

 

[srobbo]

Um, Fyfe, quite comfortably. Was a sensation from his first game and could win a brownlow IMO if his shouders hold up. The only reason he isn't rated higher is because he plays in WA and as someone else mentioned has potential to be a top 5 player. Both players are at different levels at this stage of their careers but Heppell can def make inroads if he can move into a perm mid role this year. In saying that Heppell is a beauty!

 

[Lord Nicholson]

Fyfe needs to be rated higher?

He's consistently labeled the best young player in the comp...

I have pooh-poohed anyone who suggests Martin as a substitute.

 

[GUMBLETRON]

How young are we talking?

 

[fishardansin]

I have to admit I'm fairly ignorant on Fyfe. I don't know why I haven't seen more of him. Anyhoo ... I've just watched this:



And I have a new football fantasy. Daniher develops well. TBell keeps doing good things up forward so him and Ryder can split evening the on-ball and forward stuff, Crameri remains a running bull!!

Then we have a half backline of of

Heppell Hurley Fyfe :drool:

 

[Red Black and Blue]

I still have no idea how that last goal didn't win goal of the year. A wrong foot checkside from the pocket under pressure. God like.

 

[Kong]

Too much emphasis on being hard. Smart players go hard when its absolutely necessary - No point going in hard as a show of strength and not end up with the ball.

It's a pretty shitty thing to say, but Menzel could've been a premiership player in 2011 if he hadn't have tried to out muscle Puopolo.

 

[Kong]

Personally I'd rather have Heppell. Fyfe is always friggen injured and those shoulders seem like they will plague him for the rest of his career. Essendon have enough injury prone players as it is. Its nice to have someone that actually makes it out on the park regularly. No denying Fyfe's talent though, but time will tell whether his best is seen regularly (talking injury concerns here not talent), whereas I feel like Heppell can just develop into one of those ultra consistent week in week out performers which is exactly what we need.

I wonder what odds you could get on Heppell playing 300 games.

 

[m7jebus]

I think we have different definitions of being out of the contest. When you keep your feet you are still free to tackle and apply pressure to the opposition.

That'd be because my definition in this case is a bit tongue-in-cheek, hence the quotation marks

 

[LukeParkerno1]

I am confident that Heppell will end up better than Swallow - Not by much - But better.

We should be happy with either one of them, stand by my rankings though with Swallow's game fractionally more lethal especially when in front of goals (one thing Heppell needs to improve)