Heppell participated in the Auskick program at Leongatha.[1] He began playing football with Leongatha Football Club,[2] and played for Gippsland Power in the TAC Cup for the 2009 and 2010 seasons.[3] Named as Gippsland's captain for the 2010 season,[4] Heppell also played for the Victorian Country side at the 2010 AFL Under 18 Championships, where he was named in the All-Australian team.[5] At 189cm,[3] he played as a "line-breaking defender"[4] for the first half of the 2010 season, before moving into the midfield for the second half of the season.[4]
Heppell finished strongly in the Morrish Medal count, which is awarded to the best and fairest player in the TAC Cup regular season, eventually tying for the award with Jackson Sketcher of the Sandringham Dragons, after achieving the maximum votes possible from rounds 13 to 17.[6] Despite finishing the regular season in sixth place on the ladder, both Gippsland and Heppell had a good finals series. He accumulated 36 disposals in an elimination final victory and was named best on ground in the preliminary final win to qualify for the TAC Cup Grand Final.[7] In a stark contrast to the rest of his season, Heppell had a relatively poor game in the grand final, gathering only 20 touches, as the Power were outclassed by the Calder Cannons by 56 points.[8]
AFL career
Heppell kicking for goal in 2015
Despite his performance in the grand final, Heppell was an impressive performer at the AFL draft camp,[9] and was touted by many as being a potential top five draft pick in the 2010 national draft,[10] with some even claiming he could go as high as top three.[7] Most speculation suggested that the Brisbane Lions would select Heppell with pick five,[10] who with his "silky"[5] skills and raking left foot, modelled his style on the Lions' own Josh Drummond.[3]
In the week before the draft, however, a rumour, which Heppell denied, began circulating that he was suffering from groin problems.[10] Due to this, Essendon, which had the eighth selection, became interested that he might fall to their pick, and Heppell spoke to newly appointed coach, James Hird, days before the draft.[5] Hird, who said he had been interested in Heppell for months, believed that Heppell would be selected well before Essendon had the chance to draft him, but when Heppell did slide back due to the groin concerns, Essendon selected him ahead of midfielders Dion Prestia and Shaun Atley. Heppell, who supported the Bombers as a child and had "idolised" Hird while growing up, said that getting drafted by Essendon was "like a dream".[5]
Heppell received the first Rising Star nomination for 2011 after recording 20 possessions in his debut AFL match, against the Western Bulldogs in round 1.[11] In his first season, he played every match of the home and away season and was described as a major contributor in helping Essendon make the finals. Throughout the year, and leading into the vote count, Heppell was widely considered to be the favourite for the Ron Evans Medal, awarded to the rising star of each season.[12] He won the medal, polling 44 of a possible 45 votes and became the first Essendon player to win the award. Heppell described winning the award as "a dream come true".[13]
He continued his ascent as an emerging star by finishing third in the clubs best and fairest award count, Essendon's best and fairest award; his second consecutive top-three placing. Having played his first two seasons largely off half-back, Heppell moved into a ball-winning role in the midfield in 2013, averaging 24 disposals for the season. He polled three Brownlow Medal votes for his 36-possession and two-goal effort against Melbourne in round 2 and was in the best players for the comeback win over Carlton in round 11.
Heppell, along with 33 other Essendon players, whilst not returning a positive test was found guilty of using a banned performance-enhancing substance, thymosin beta-4, as part of Essendon's sports supplements program during the 2012 season. He and his team-mates were initially found not guilty in March 2015 by the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal,[16] but a guilty verdict was returned in January 2016 after an appeal by the World Anti-Doping Agency. He was suspended for two years which, with backdating, ended in November 2016; as a result, he served approximately fourteen months of his suspension and missed the entire 2016 AFL season.[17]
In February 2017, Heppell was announced as Essendon's new captain, taking over from Brendon Goddard.[18] In December 2019, he signed a two-year contract extension with Essendon, keeping him at the club until 2022.[19] He re-signed for 2023[20] but stepped down as captain after six seasons in the role.[21]
↑ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
James Albert Hird is a former professional Australian rules football player and past senior coach of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Mark "Bomber" Thompson is a retired Australian rules footballer and former senior coach. He played 202 games for the Essendon Football Club from 1983 to 1996, captaining the side from 1992 until 1995.
Scott Lucas is a former Australian rules footballer for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League, and he is noted as being the other major forward for the Bombers along with Matthew Lloyd during Essedon's turn-of-the-century domination. Together, Lloyd and Lucas were affectionately dubbed the "twin towers" due to their height in the Bomber forward line.
The Crichton Medal is the name given to the best and fairest award for the Australian rules football team the Essendon Football Club. The naming of the award is in honour of Wally Crichton, a former administrator for Essendon. The voting system as of the 2017 AFL season consists of five coaches, giving each player a ranking from zero to five after each match. Players can receive a maximum of 25 votes for a game.
Jobe Watson is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Watson, the son of three-time Essendon premiership champion Tim Watson, was drafted by Essendon under the father–son rule in the 2002 national draft, and went on to become one of the best midfielders of the modern era. A dual All-Australian and three-time Crichton Medallist, he captained Essendon from 2010 to early 2016, and was the face of the Essendon playing group during the most turbulent period in the club's history.
Matthew Knights is an Australian rules football coach and former player who is currently serving as an assistant coach with the West Coast Eagles. Knights played in the midfield for the Richmond Football Club from 1988 to 2002, before going on to forge a coaching career, most notably as head coach of the Essendon Football Club from 2008 to 2010. He later became the head coach of the Geelong VFL Football Club from 2012 to 2014, guiding the Cats to the 2012 VFL Premiership and the 2013 VFL Grand Final.
Brent Stanton is a retired professional Australian rules footballer who played his entire career for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Nathan Jones is a former Australian rules footballer known for playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League. He is the older brother of St Kilda player Zak Jones. He served as the captain of Melbourne from 2014 until he stepped down at the end of the 2019 season.
Heath Hocking is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
David Zaharakis is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played 13 seasons for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Luke Shuey is a former Australian rules footballer and former captain of the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). He retired at the conclusion of the 2023 AFL season.
Jake Melksham is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A midfielder, 1.86 metres tall and weighing 83 kilograms (183 lb), Melksham also has the ability to play as a defender, primarily as a half-back flanker. Growing up in Glenroy, Victoria, he played top-level football early when he joined the Calder Cannons' under 18 side in the TAC Cup at the age of sixteen. He spent three years playing for the Calder Cannons, winning a premiership in his final junior year. His achievements as a junior include state representation and the TAC Medal as the best player on the ground in the TAC Cup Grand Final.
The 2011 AFL season was the 115th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989.
Michael George Hibberd is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A defender, 1.87 metres tall and weighing 94 kilograms (207 lb), Hibberd plays primarily on the half-back flank. After spending the 2008 season with the Dandenong Stingrays in the TAC Cup, he missed out on selection in the 2008 AFL draft, which saw him spend two seasons in the Victorian Football League (VFL) with the Frankston Football Club. After winning Frankston's best and fairest and the Fothergill-Round Medal as the VFL's most promising young player in 2010, he was recruited by the Essendon Football Club with the fourth selection in the 2011 pre-season draft.
Michael Ross is an Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Joe Daniher is an Australian rules footballer with the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Essendon Football Club from 2013 to 2020, having been recruited to the club under the father–son rule. Daniher won a Crichton Medal and All-Australian selection in 2017, as well as the 2017 AFL Mark of the Year and Anzac Medal for that season. He is also a four-time Essendon leading goalkicker.
Zach Merrett is a professional Australian rules footballer, currently the captain of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) A medium-sized midfielder standing at 1.79 metres tall and weighing 83 kilograms, Merrett is able to contribute as a hard-running midfielder capable of collecting a large number of uncontested possessions whilst also being capable of winning a contested ball and clearance. He was recruited by the Essendon Football Club with the twenty-sixth selection in the 2013 AFL draft and made his debut in the 2014 season. Merrett is a three-time Crichton Medallist and three-time All-Australian; in 2023, he was selected to be the 41st captain of the Essendon Football Club.
Orazio Maurice Fantasia is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited by the Essendon Football Club with the 55th overall selection in the 2013 national draft.
Anthony William Watson McDonald-Tipungwuti is a former professional Australian rules football player for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was drafted by Essendon with their second selection in the 2015 rookie draft.
The 2013 season marked the 106th season in which the Richmond Football Club participated in the AFL/VFL.
↑ McNicol, Adam (2 November 2010). "Heppell's hands fastest". Australian Football League. Archived from the original on 7 October 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
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