Essendon has confirmed that club legend and soon-to-be-retired player Dyson Heppell will get a farewell game on Saturday against Brisbane at the Gabba.
Heppell announced his retirement early last week after 14 years and 252 games whilst leading the Bombers through arguably the most tumultuous time in its history.
The loyal 32-year-old was potentially in line to farewell the home crowd during Round 23's loss against Sydney at Marvel Stadium, but with Brad Scott's men still in contention for finals, he opted against selecting the left-footer.
One last dance for Hepp ๐ซก pic.twitter.com/nSFOhLPk08
— Essendon FC (@essendonfc) August 21, 2024
"Dyson has been very, very clear that his decision to retire - a big part of it was - he talked to me about when someone has come through and is ready to take his spot and perform that he would know it was time," Scott said following the call to leave Heppell on the sidelines last week.
"We've had discussions for four to six weeks. He is as strong as I am on (the fact that) we're still in contention, we picked our best team and that's what we did.
"That's what everyone would expect us to do."
However, with Essendon having no shot of playing finals in 2024, club fans will get their wish to see the No.21 play in the red sash one last time.
Scott defended his decision last week to leave Heppell out of the side, but admitted it wasn't an easy one.
โLast week was a gut-wrenching decision but the decision is a simple one, you play your best team to try and qualify for finals,โ Scott said on Wednesday.
โThis week, we're out of contention but there's also the fact there's a very clearly defined role for him.
โI can understand that sentiment is a really big part of our game and Dyson Heppell will go down as a legend of this club and leave an indelible legacy on this place.
โBut ultimately, my job is very difficult in that I have to deal with sentiment, but ultimately to get Essendon back to playing and winning finals. That's what we are trying to do.
โWe won't let anything staff in the way of that and that includes sentimentโ
Heppell will finish his career off with 253 games next to his name, alongside an All-Australian blazer (2014), Crichton medal (2014), Rising Star award (2011) and Bombers captain between 2017 and 2022.
