Essendon prop Dyson Heppell to retire at end of 2024 AFL season

In short:

Former Essendon Bombers captain Dyson Heppell has announced he will retire at the end of the 2024 AFL season.

Heppell is the last remaining Bomber from the team suspended in 2016 following the supplements saga.

What’s next?

Essendon will face the Sydney Swans and Brisbane Lions in their final two regular season games and will need to win both and see other results go their way to qualify for the finals.

Essendon prop Dyson Heppell will likely retire without the team success he craved, but as a central figure in helping the AFL club emerge from its darkest era.

Former captain Heppell announced on Tuesday that he would hang up his boots at the end of the season.

ABC Sport live blogs every round of the AFL and NRL seasons in 2024.

Over a 14-year, 252-game career, the scrum-half turned midfielder has remained loyal to the Bombers through what is arguably the most tumultuous period in their history.

Heppell was the last remaining Bombers player among the ‘Essendon 34’ suspended in 2016 following the supplements saga.

Jake Melksham, originally from Melbourne, is the only other member of this group still active.

Coach Brad Scott praised the 32-year-old after he informed his teammates of his decision on Tuesday.

“Dyson is an incredible human being, he wears his heart on his sleeve, and his love for the Essendon Football Club and the game itself is clear for everyone to see, and a lot of that came through when he spoke to the players,” Scott said.

“He spoke incredibly well, he is universally loved in our club and clearly respected. He was, for a long time, the glue that held this place together.

“I told the players that our game and our clubs bring more to us as individuals than what we bring to the game, and I truly believe that.

“But if I can think of anyone in my footballing career who has given more to his club and the game than he has taken from it would be Dyson Heppell.”

Heppell is not guaranteed a farewell match as the Bombers’ slim finals hopes hinge on their ability to beat top-flight sides Sydney and Brisbane and hope other results go their way.

He said that with younger players coming in to take his place, he knew it was time to call it a day.

“I have thought about this decision for several weeks, and it is certainly not a decision that has been taken lightly or easily, but one that I am very pleased with,” Heppell said in a club statement.

Drafted with the eighth pick in the 2010 draft, Heppell bows out as an All-Australian, AFL Rising Star, Bombers captain from 2017 to 2022 and a former club champion.

He has never played in a final he won, but said he had no regrets.

“I would go back and do it all again if I could,” Heppell said.

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