Heppell looks at bright side

ESSENDON captain Dyson Heppell marked his team’s return to the finals as a success in the club’s first season free of controversy since 2011.

The Bombers’ 65-point elimination final loss to Sydney will net the club pick 11 in the first round of the AFL draft and a friendlier 2018 fixture after finishing in the middle bracket of six.

They will play either one or two matches against bottomsix and top-six teams next year, under the AFL’s weighted fixture rule.

The Bombers have been linked to All-Australian and Western Bulldogs premiership star Jake Stringer and coach John Worsfold said he would now turn his attention to list management in a bid to build on this year’s strong showing.

“Ask me next week,” Worsfold said when asked if the Dons were chasing Stringer.

First-year skipper Heppell praised his teammates’ climb up the ladder this year despite a flat final showing.

“It’s quite deflating,” he said from the SCG rooms.

“We just didn’t perform the way we would’ve liked but I don’t think it’s a true reflection of our year.

“We’ve come a long way as a group and developed in a number of areas, and we didn’t really stand up to the challenge.

“I’m super proud of the group, super proud of the entire organisation and how far we’ve come, and I looked at it at the start of the year and said if we can make finals it’d be a really successful year.

“We come back to pre-season even hungrier.

“We know we’ve got a lot more in us, it’s a young group that’s played 23 games together now and we’re building something strong.”

The 65-point hammering was Essendon’s equal biggest loss for the season and continues the finals drought.

The Bombers have not sa- luted in September since their nailbiting elimination final win against Melbourne in 2004.

Since then Essendon has lost five consecutive suddendeath matches – by 10, 96, 62, 12 and 65 points.

Midfielder David Zaharakis expects the Bombers to challenge for a premiership after re-signing until 2021.

“This list is a mix between a lot of talent and a lot of desire – and that’s the perfect combination,” he said.