HEPPELL (The Return of Martin Heppell) by Randy M. M. Savage

The name Heppell is back in the football news these days thanks to a young defender turned midfielder Dyson Heppell who has been turning it on at Under 18 level.

This year Dyson Heppell has won NAB AFL All-Australian team honours, was Victoria Country's Most Valuable Player, shared Morrish Medal honours and turned in some matchwinning performances for the Gippsland Power in the TAC Cup Finals.

We're going to hear a lot more about him in the future but there's already another Heppell whose name has been indelibly inscribed in the book that details the passing parade of VFL/AFL footballers - former Demon and Saint, Martin Heppell after who the most valuable player award for Demonland/Demonology in Forum Footy matches against Saintsational is named.

After less than extensive research into the matter (none) the mystery of whether the two Heppells are related remains unresolved but one thing is clear. The Demons will not be able to claim the promising youngster under the AFL's father/son rule, mainly due to the fact that even if this was their true relationship, the elder Heppell's career games total is well short of the number of games to assure Dyson of qualification because Martin only represented the Melbourne Football Club twice in his brief career.

Heppell didn't exactly burst onto the AFL scene with a flourish. Born on 14 November, 1974, he was just 18 years of age when picked up by the Saints straight out of Carey Grammar at # 32 in the 1993 Pre season Draft. The 178cm tall youngster played three senior games in his debut season and managed only two in the following year before he was delisted and left to drift without a football club over the summer.

The Melbourne Football Club threw Martin Heppell a lifeline and picked him up at # 28 in the 1995 Pre Season Draft. He was given the number 38 guernsey worn previously by David Neitz who had upgraded to the number 9 but while Neita went on to break the club games record and finish with over 300 to his credit, Heppell was never destined for such greatness.

He managed just two games in 1995 - the round 4 & 5 clashes against Footscray and West Coast. The Dees lost both of them and Heppell failed to make double figures in disposals in either match. He managed just four kicks and four handballs on debut and just three kicks in his finale a week later. After that Heppell's AFL days were confined to the reserves and by the end of 1995, it was a case of "career over" for Melbourne's Heritage Number 1160.

The man who once described his ideal weekend as "going to a punk rock gig with 10 mates and 10 playmates" was not finished with the red and blue just yet. He went on to play in a premiership team at Norwood in the SANFL before landing a coaching job with the Box Hill Hawks reserves.

Heppell's dedication to the task, his enjoyment of the game at a level below the elite and his association with both St.Kilda and Melbourne made him the natural choice when it came down to picking a player to bear the name of the Demonland/Demonology MVP award. That, and the fact that his favourite nightspot is The Espy and his favourite band is Goldfinger.

Who?

* The Demonland/Demonology team kicks off its Footy Forum season on Sunday 10 October 2010 at Victoria Park at 12 noon and prospective players, coaches, assistants and supporters are all welcome.

You don't have to be as good a player as Martin Heppell and there's no training although it's recommended that you stay off the smokes and the turps for 24 6 hours before the game. For more details, see here.

Randy, there's little chance of a father-son connection here. According to the TAC Cup Record, Dyson Heppell was born on 14 May 1992 which means that if Martin was the father he would have been a dad at 17½ and before he started his illustrious football career.

I played soccer with Marty a couple of years ago after he left Box Hill. An absolutely smashing guy! A fitness machine, he quickly gathered a reputation throughout our league as a fierce competitor. A fantastic leader who loved giving his all for the club and telling his old footy stories. Tragically, in the last match Marty played, he broke his leg in a typically strong 'Heppell' challenge. You guys couldn't have picked a better player than Martin Heppel to represent the two clubs on your forum footy day- I'm sure he'd be very proud to be honoured in such a way!

Just heard an interview with Dyson Heppell's father and his name isn't Martin or Marty.

Dyson Heppell was well held today in the TAC Cup Grand Final. He was overshadowed by the Cannons midfield including a couple of genuine father/son picks in Mitch Wallis who was BOG and Tom Liberatore. Both will play for the Western Bulldogs next year.

Anybody got a picture of him? Even if it is cut out of one of those horrendous mid-90's team shots we had where all the players were lying on the ground legs akimbo.

Three of us went across to watch Melbourne v Port at AAMI in 1998. It was a Sunday match, so on Saturday we went to Adelaide oval to watch West Adelaide v Norwood. We got there early enough to see the reserves and who should be running around? None other than Glenn Molloy and Martin Heppell. Peter Rhode was the coach, too. On top of that, we got talking to a couple of local types, one of whom was Ross Dillon's daughter.