TYPICALLY, for a Gippsland Power youngster headed for bigger things, Leongatha’s Dyson Heppell played only seven or eight senior games for the Parrots before going as pick number eight in the 2010 draft.
But, present-day Gippsland Power head coach, Rhett McLennan, had a unique vantage point from which to see Dyson go about his work on his debut in senior football as a 16-year-old.
“It was my first year back at Leongatha and I seem to recall he was a late inclusion for a game against Garfield at Leongatha, I’m going to say five or six rounds into the season when I think Chris Rump didn’t come up after injury.
“He was selected to play next to me on a half forward flank and I remember thinking he looked a bit nervous as we came out on to the ground.
“I put my arm over his shoulder and reassured him that the ball was still the same size, the goals were just the same distance away and he’d be fine.
“I needn’t have worried, he killed it,” said McLennan.
“By quarter time, he’d had 10 touches and set up two goals.
“I went across to him at quarter time and told him to forget what I said, he didn’t need it.
“At the time I was working for a sports company in Melbourne, and I remember saying to some of the staff there I’d just seen a ‘Scott Pendlebury’ type player make his senior debut. He had that same time, space and poise of a good basketball player like Scott Pendlebury.
“He’d played a lot of rep basketball as a junior, representing Vic Country, and he always had the hands and the time to find someone else in good position.
“He had the fitness and work ethic no doubt, but he had the skills as well from a young age.”
McLennan said he would have liked to see Dyson get the farewell he deserved, in front of his own family, friends and fans in Melbourne.
“He’ll get a farewell game in Brisbane, but I would have liked to see him play last week. He deserved that.
“Above all he’s a good bloke but the legacy he leaves at Essendon is enormous.
“To basically lead that club back, after being appointed captain at age 24, following their return after the supplements’ saga, and really be the face of the club, and its best player through that period was absolutely incredible.
“And just the way he handled himself through that time.”
It’s a sentiment that everyone in Leongatha feels about a young local kid who made us all feel proud.
On Saturday Night, the Bombers’ season-ending match at Brisbane will now feature a final match for the former captain, selected as he himself wanted it, on merit not sentiment.
They say he’s been selected because of “a specific role for the weekend’s clash” but there’s no doubt there was a specific role for him last week against Sydney, and with his leadership, he might have helped stem the tide of the Swans’ fightback, and the Bombers could still have been in the finals’ race this week.
Coach Brad Scott addressed the decision not to play the 32-year-old last week.
“Dyson will go down as a legend of our club and leave an indelible legacy on this place,” Scott said.
“Last week was a gut-wrenching decision, but the philosophy’s very simple, you play your best team to try and qualify for finals.
“My job is to get Essendon back to playing and winning finals. That’s what we’re trying to do and we won’t let anything stand in the way of that.
“This week we’re out of contention but there’s also the fact that there’s a very clearly defined role for him.”
A life-long Essendon supporter, Dyson has absolutely no regrets about being a one-club player and will forever be grateful for the opportunities they opened up for him.
"I was an Essendon person through and through and had so many amazing relationships I'd formulated and created throughout my time here and something I really wanted to do was to see this through, see what we could actually do and hopefully forge some form of success at the back end."
Heppell said in a club statement that he was "super content" with the decision to retire, having wrestled with his football mortality for several weeks.
“In my own mind I always wanted to call it a day while I was still playing decent footy and that if it got to a point where we’ve got other boys primed and ready to play my role then I know it’s time," he said.
“No doubt there’s a little competitive dog part of me that’s in my ear telling me to go one more but after considering all possibilities and having the opportunity to go out on my own terms it just feels like the right call.
“They all say it, but it does go bloody fast. I’m envious of our young boys embarking on your careers. I’d go back there and do it all again if I could.”
The opportunity to “do it all again” at the Parrots has certainly been raised locally.
“You never know, he might show up in the green and gold again, there are a lot of people who’d like to think so,” said Rhett McLennan.
There would be many highlights in his 253-game career to look back on but for Leonghatha fans, the day two of the town's favourite sons, Jarryd Roughead and Dyson Heppell walked towards the centre of the ground at the MCG to shake hands and toss the coin as captains of their respective clubs, Hawthorn and Essendon, is one that would stand out for many. An AFL 'Where it all began" video presentation hosted by Leongatha legend Ken Fleming provides some of the background to these two great football careers. Click HERE