Dyson Heppell says his side was able to feed off the energy provided by a vociferous, fanatical and adoring Essendon crowd in the season opener against Hawthorn.

The Bombers got home by 25 points to mark a significant chapter in the Club’s Comeback Story.

From the moment the side ran onto the ground until the final siren, the roar of the 78,294 fans in attendance was deafening.

“It was a very special moment and something I truly missed,” Heppell said.

“It’s something we tried to harness – the energy the crowd was giving off tonight was enormous.

“They’ve been enormous for us and helped us get through a very rough period.

“To be honest, I feel we’ve only gotten stronger.

“The backing we’ve got is just huge … I want them to know that we really do harness their energy.

“What they give to us is massive, I really can’t thank them enough.”

Heppell was brilliant in his first game as the Club’s official Captain.

He picked up 34 possessions, took eight marks, laid seven tackles and even drifted forward to kick three goals – equalling the best return of his career.

“I’ve been doing a bit with the forwards over the pre-season and it’s good to spend a bit of time down there and get on the scoreboard,” he said.

The Bombers controlled the early stages before Hawthorn found its groove kicking five goals to one in a 35-minute patch stretching from the start of the second quarter to early in the third.

But the Dons rallied and kicked five of the last six goals in the third term to take a ten-point lead into the last change.

When the side kicked the first three goals of the final quarter, victory was in sight.

Late goals to Heppell and Stanton dispelled any chance of a late Hawks comeback.

“It probably wasn’t until really late that we knew we had the game won,” Heppell said.

“I thought we stuck to our process and stuck to our values and our structure late in the game I thought was terrific.

“We played the game out to the end and managed to really take control of our ball movement and run the clock down.”