Heppell asks for patience

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s'dreams
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Heppell asks for patience

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From the Age

Heppell asks for patience from hungry Essendon fans

By Ronny Lerner
March 12, 2019 — 11.23am

Having not won a final in 15 years and heading into 2019 amid heightened expectation on the back of consecutive big-name off-season recruiting sprees, the Essendon natives are restless.

Another big recruit, this time in the coaching staff, Ben Rutten has also been brought in from the successful Richmond program, in a bid mainly to improve the team’s defensive structures.
Essendon have not won either of their JLT pre-season games this year.

Essendon have not won either of their JLT pre-season games this year.Credit:AAP

But after an underwhelming pre-season campaign, which saw them lose both of their practice matches to Carlton and Geelong, put a bit of a dent in the excitement surrounding Essendon, captain Dyson Heppell has called for patience from the Bomber faithful.

The 26-year-old said his team was still getting accustomed to Rutten’s strategy and didn’t expect it to click straight away from the start of the season.

“It’s all new and new things do take time to really delve in,” Heppell told SEN radio on Tuesday.

“We’ve improved a hell of a lot since it was implemented early days in the pre-season and honestly it’s not too different to what we were doing, just a couple of tweaks, but that will take time to learn and really sink into the group.

“That’s not just going to click and be absolutely on song for round one, that’ll be improving as the year goes but hopefully we can get ourselves in order for round one to be able to compete at our best.”

Heppell also said it was imperative that Essendon brought the same kind of pressure and intensity around the ball on a consistent basis which served them so well in the final two-thirds of the 2018 season.

The Bombers made a terrible start to last year, losing six of their first eight games before finishing with a wet sail, winning 10 of their last 14.

“Just in those first couple of games we really didn’t bring that to the table,” he said.

“We know we can do it and we know how damaging it can be when we bring it so it’s just a matter of everyone buying into it and putting it on the park.”

Heppell was also keen not to shy away from the considerable hype surrounding the Bombers this year, a philosophy which served another huge Victorian club Richmond so well in their 2017 premiership year.

“It’s more so about embracing the expectation from the outside,” he said.

“We’ve got a massive supporter base that are unbelievable and really excited about what we can achieve and we can’t hide behind that and we can’t push that away.”

Key to Essendon’s prospects of success this year is star forward Joe Daniher, who missed most of last season due to osteitis pubis.

And while the 2017 All-Australian big man got through both practice matches unscathed, Heppell was adamant that the club wouldn’t name him for their season opener against GWS on March 24 if they didn’t think he was right to go.

“We’re not just going to rush him straight into round one if he’s not 100 per cent cherry ripe,” he said.

“We’ll make sure he’s ready to go and roll him out when we feel is right ... No issue if he doesn’t [play GWS], it’s a long season and he’s got plenty of time to get himself right but I certainly see him lining up in round one.”


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BenDoolan
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Re: Heppell asks for patience

Post by BenDoolan »

Haha, no worries Dyso :roll:

We’ve heard the same sort of shit for 15 years so another 15 will be fine. “Just getting accustomed to Rutten’s strategy”. Yes, insert every other new assistant coaches name over the years to trot out the same lame excuse. FMD.

Just f****** learn quicker, get the f****** basic skills right, and start actually having a killer instinct might help you get to where you wanna be.

Every other club has change in its ranks. They adapt. They learn. And they execute.

So get with the f****** program.
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BERT
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Re: Heppell asks for patience

Post by BERT »

I think I’ve been pretty patient over the last 15 years.

Seeing us get belted in finals to Adelaide, Carlton and Sydney.

Watching us beat a top 4 side one week and then lose to a bottom 4 side the next. Every single season that happens.

I’m over the crap from the club. Get ruthless or get out. I’m old enough to remember when a young hungry coach started at Essendon and turned the club into a feared powerhouse. No one fears us anymore.
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Windy_Hill
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Re: Heppell asks for patience

Post by Windy_Hill »

Dyson don’t take it personally. I once asked for sweet and sour pork at Greek restaurant and they laughed at me too.
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Re: Heppell asks for patience

Post by Crazyman »

Ask away, but this is exactly the attitude that has turned out once proud club to the new St Kilda 👿

As stated, above, but I’ll say it far more eloquently: get some f****** mongrel in ya and learn to hit a f****** target for once...
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s'dreams
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Re: Heppell asks for patience

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I'm not sure that our "inability" to learn the new defense from Richmond can explain how we got belted in the guts and the standard Essendon breakdown of play in and around the forward 50. How this new thinking will change our propensity to kick to two on one marking contests or kick over their heads or at their feet.

It must be me, cos I'm too dumb to understand it.
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Re: Heppell asks for patience

Post by nudder12 »

Like everyone has said above.
Plus he said - “It’s all new and new things do take time to really delve in,.............and honestly it’s not too different to what we were doing, just a couple of tweaks"
Which is it? All new, or - not too different, just a few tweaks??
If it's just a few tweaks then FFS tweak 'em, and fast!!
Nothing stays the same at ANY club from one season to the next. Every premiership team has had changes, but they coped.
Who is putting these messages in our players heads? Is it the coaching staff........"it's OK boys, keep trying, you'll get it right soon..." ????
I know, I know, nobody is going to come out and say their team will be Premiers, but something more optimistic than "be patient" would be nice.
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Re: Heppell asks for patience

Post by nudder12 »

s'dreams wrote: Tue Mar 12, 2019 9:17 pm I'm not sure that our "inability" to learn the new defense from Richmond can explain how we got belted in the guts and the standard Essendon breakdown of play in and around the forward 50. How this new thinking will change our propensity to kick to two on one marking contests or kick over their heads or at their feet.

It must be me, cos I'm too dumb to understand it.
Now now, don't be so hard on yourself. You're not dumb, just give it time and you'll understand. Be patient!
But you're right about fixing all the other rubbish. Apparently though, we can't even learn a few tweaks, so fixing several other elements is just unrealistic.
Reminds me of some of the other recent comments about needing some "hard nuts" in the team - maybe what we need instead is some players with brains that can learn new stuff.
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Re: Heppell asks for patience

Post by Rover99 »

Phew Dyson. Comforting words. Had me worried there for a minute mate.
So we've...." come a long way " since someone decided to introduce a loony new move that no one has a clue about halfway through the preseason?
That should mean that we'll be set to fire somewhere between round 12 and round 15?
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Windy_Hill
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Re: Heppell asks for patience

Post by Windy_Hill »

why are we tweaking anything? We won 10 of our last 14 games for god's sake and should have probably won 12 of them.

I will walk naked down Puckle St if we beat the Giants in Round 1. We look totally underdone in terms of fitness and match readiness.

I want to be proven wrong but too much of the wrong body language is coming from this club. Heppell has not read the audience very well when he opened his mouth on this one. Please be patient is what the f****** Saints and Suns are asking their members

f*** off with the please be patient. Request Denied!!!
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Re: Heppell asks for patience

Post by grassy1 »

Over my way,I’ve been patient for 42 years.Sorta!

The very 1st year,we Woz wobbed!By 2 points.

Now,I’m just plain numb to it all.

Could be worse.Cubs fans were patient for 108 years.

“There’s always next year”was their patient mantra.
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Re: Heppell asks for patience

Post by billyduckworth »

I think we've all been very patient, but nineteen years is a bloody long time, enough is enough.

As for all these lame excuses about tweaking, adapting to a new game plan blah blah blah.... ](*,)

It's footy, not rocket science. It's simple. Kick it to a teammate (not over his head, not to his opponent). Kick it through the two big sticks in the middle. You get it. Do I need to explain??
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Western Red
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Re: Heppell asks for patience

Post by Western Red »

So we are basically conceding round 1 to GWS due to the new defensive structures. Thanks Doison.....

FFS if Joe is not right then he can play in the magoos for a couple of weeks. I read today that if he plays R1 he will have "managed minutes" - straight from Worsefold - f*** off c***! What the f*** are managed minutes in the season proper???

Gee the hype has come off real quick........
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Windy_Hill
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Re: Heppell asks for patience

Post by Windy_Hill »

Western Red wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2019 5:59 pm
Gee the hype has come off real quick........
It has and that is the sign of an insecure football club and fan base. Worsfold is clearly a coach who likes to keep things on the down low. What he is failing to understand however is the million odd Essendon fans have had enough. After years of being simply bog average, coupled with the hell that was 2013-2016, we the fans are like a lost man in the desert finally seeing an oasis in the near distance, a watering hole, relief at last. Except the JLT series along with just bad optics from the club has seen the oasis vanish like a mirage. Another false dawn.

Listen I will be the first one to eat humble pie if we go to Sydney in R1 and beat the fancied Giants. However, with a team structure that looks very uncertain and an abysmally poor showing in the JLT....well, I just cant see it.

The things that worries me

1) Misfiring Foward line - is Joe in or not? Who plays the second tall. What happened to James Stewart. Is Stringer a forward or a mid? Does Laverde come in and will he finally step up? Is Fantasia match fit?

2) Weakened Defence - Hooker out and unavailable for some time, Gleeson has bubonic plague, Dea and McNeice out, Ambrose or Hartley for second tall (neither set the world on fire in the JLT)

3) Midfield - Bellchambers loooking all sorts of rusty, no real strength on the inside, will Parish step up? Does Heppell play mid or Half Back??

To be fair, our midfield looks like our best line at the moment. But the rest is all over the shop

I guess we will see in a couple of weeks
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s'dreams
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Re: Heppell asks for patience

Post by s'dreams »

In my time supporting the 'dons, we have won 5 premierships... but Carlton has won 8 :x

Don't care for the fluffy excitable reportage or the reassurances from the club designed to keep suporters on side.

I note that the real turnaround last year was when the club swung the axe at the selection table and in the coaching staff. Oftentimes, honesty and directness is better than expectation management.
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Windy_Hill
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Re: Heppell asks for patience

Post by Windy_Hill »

s'dreams wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2019 11:40 pm In my time supporting the 'dons, we have won 5 premierships... but Carlton has won 8 :x

Don't care for the fluffy excitable reportage or the reassurances from the club designed to keep suporters on side.

I note that the real turnaround last year was when the club swung the axe at the selection table and in the coaching staff. Oftentimes, honesty and directness is better than expectation management.

Exactly...I would prefer brutal reality to fluff any day. By the way I had 6 Premierships in my first 38 years. None in the last 19.
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Re: Heppell asks for patience

Post by BenDoolan »

** BREAKING NEWS **

Essendon Football Club has changed the name of its headquarters in Tullamarine to ‘The Hangar Hospital’.

The club is calling for patients.
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s'dreams
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Re: Heppell asks for patience

Post by s'dreams »

BenDoolan wrote: Thu Mar 14, 2019 5:52 am ** BREAKING NEWS **

Essendon Football Club has changed the name of its headquarters in Tullamarine to ‘The Hangar Hospital’.

The club is calling for patients.
Lag 1: What you in for?
Lag 2: I'm doing 3 for butchering the ball. You?
Lag 1: I'm a patience patient.
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Windy Hille
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Re: Heppell asks for patience

Post by Windy Hille »

Club calls for patience, fans call for urgency. What a surprise!

I will say this though, the club can’t engage in the fluffy expectation articles one minute, then state “please be patient” the next. If your are not really in a position to challenge for a flag, then best you downplay your excitement so the expectation is not drawn towards you.
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Re: Heppell asks for patience

Post by desmondo »

So, be patient?.........

You don`t think 19 fkng years is being patient??..

Of course in the interim, the 'major' draft penalties we have incurred have obviously taken their toll on us, (as they were intended to do), but as stated above, we cop all the fluffy bullshit (just about every year) and then be told to be patient :evil:

f*** patience, just come out and say, you know what?, we aren`t good enough at the moment with the players we have. Some honesty would be refreshing, although a little depressing, but all the bottom tier clubs have to cop it.
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