Dyson Heppell is among the favourites to take out tonight’s Leigh Matthew Trophy at the AFL players MVP Awards in Melbourne.
Heppell is one of three Bombers nominated for the award alongside Cale Hooker and Brendon Goddard for the AFLPA MVP award.
The MVP voting is a two-stage process beginning with each player voting for which teammate he considers to have been the most valuable in 2014.
Each club votes are then tallied to form a nomination list comprising of 54 players across the 18 teams.
The Essendon trio received the most votes from their Bombers teammates and will now be placed among the best in the competition for the prestigious award.
The AFL players then vote for their MVP on a 3,2,1 basis from amongst the nominees from the 17 other clubs with the highest score being awarded the honour of MVP.
Other awards presented on the night include the Robert Rose Most Courageous Award, Best First Year Player and Best Captain Award.
Jobe Watson has been nominated for the Best Captain Award, Patrick Ambrose the Most Courageous Award and Zach Merrett the Best First Year player.
Young duo Dyson Heppell and Jake Carlisle have also been nominated for the 22under22 side to be revealed at tonight’s event.
The 22under22 concept was introduced in 2013 to recognise the best young talent in the competition, as decided by the fans.
The pair last year both made it into the final side with Heppell announced as the inaugural captain in 2013.
