Essendon Captain Dyson Heppell is happy with the Dons first half of the season, telling SEN on Friday the side has displayed ‘exciting patches of football’ throughout the opening ten rounds.

Heppell said the Bombers are still building to produce consistent four quarter football.

Essendon is 11^th on the ladder after five wins and will be looking to break into the top eight when they play GWS on Saturday.

“I feel we’ve got a lot of upside, we’ve shown that when we can play some consistent footy we can be very dangerous,” Heppell said.

“I guess it’s about finding that consistency and seeing how we go in this second half of the year.

“We’ve shown we can put in really good periods here and there.

“We’ve only had two games this year – round one against Hawthorn and the West Coast game where we played four really strong quarters.

“We are showing some really exciting patches and more and more players are stepping up to the plate so our depth is running quite deep at the moment.

“I feel the list is in really healthy shape and that puts us in a strong place.”

In his first season as Captain, Heppell said he’s enjoying the support from the Club’s experienced core.  

“It’s been quite easy having a lot of great leaders around the place in terms of Jobe (Watson) and Brendan (Goddard),” he said.

“Across the leadership group we’ve got a really healthy balance, so that’s been great.”

Heppell will lead the side out on Saturday afternoon, when the Bombers take on the second placed Giants.

With GWS boasting a midfield combination that includes Shane Mumford, Callan Ward, Tom Scully and Dylan Shiel, Heppell knows the Bombers are in for a tough contest.

“It is a major test this one. They’re quite strong right across the board,” Heppell said.

“Obviously their midfield has been quite potent, they have some very dangerous forwards as well.

“I think stopping their run off half back as well, they’ve got quick half backs that like to break the lines.

“We will look to try and shut them down.

“It should be a tough one up there but I’m really looking forward to the challenge.”