Essendon midfielder Dyson Heppell has continued his surge up the AFLCA Champion Player of the Year leader board with a perfect 10 votes on the weekend.
Heppell’s 10 votes has seen his tally increase to 68 votes for the season, placing him outright seventh on the leader board, just 27 votes behind leader Nat Fyfe.
After a poor first half innately mirroring the entire team, the 22-year-old rallied in the second half to amass a stunning 29 disposals, to finish with 39 for the match.
The inspiring display left no doubt in both coach’s minds with Bomber Thompson and Adam Simpson awarding Heppell the top votes.
The 82-gamer credited his newfound confidence in his playing style and experience gained over the last three years in the system for the turnaround.
“Maybe in previous years, with the lack of experience, if I had a poor first half I’d probably tend to get lost for the rest of the game,” Heppell said.
“I’ve got 80 odd games under my belt now, and I’ve played in a lot of close games in the previous four years, so instead of waiting for someone else to step up in those kinds of situations, amongst the leadership group we put it on ourselves to try and take control of those situations.”
Imminent-retiree Jason Winderlich and captain Jobe Watson rounded out the notable Bomber vote getters for their major roles played in Essendon’s three-point win over the Eagles, awarded six and four votes respectively.
View the full votes from the Bombers round 21 clash as well as the leader board with two rounds remaining below.
Round 21- Essendon vs. West Coast Eagles votes
10- Dyson Heppell (Essendon)
6- Jason Winderlich (Essendon)
4- Jobe Watson (Essendon)
3- Eric Mackenzie (West Coast)
3- Luke Shuey (West Coast)
2- David Zaharakis (Essendon)
1- Mark Baguley (Essendon)
1- Jeremy McGovern (West Coast)
AFLCA Champion Player of the Year Leader Board- Round 21
95- Nat Fyfe (Fremantle)
92- Robbie Gray (Port Adelaide)
83- Josh Kennedy (Sydney)
72- Gary Ablett (Gold Coast)
72- Matthew Priddis (West Coast)
70- Lance Franklin (Sydney)
68- Dyson Heppell (Essendon)
65- Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)
64- Joel Selwood (Geelong)
61- Jordan Lewis (Hawthorn)
