After narrowly missing out on the draft in November, Aaron Heppell still has the desire to reach the elite level.
The Bombers VFL midfielder said he had already began working closely with the coaches to improve his identified weaknesses.
“I spoke to a couple of coaches when I got here and they told me that my speed and agility needs a bit of work,” Heppell said.
“I also need to work on getting a bit of strength and a bit more power to compete with the bigger bodies in the VFL”.
When Heppell was signed by the VFL team in mid-December, he moved in with brother Dyson and said the influence his older brother has had on him has been invaluable.
“Dyson’s been fantastic, he’s shown me around the club, made me feel really comfortable and introduced me to a lot of people,” he said.
“He has set the standard for me and I just have to try and follow in his footsteps and keep it at that level”
Coach Hayden Skipworth said he had been thrilled with the attitude of Heppell since joining the club.
“Aaron comes from a great family and has a lot of good traits instilled in him as he has grown up,” Skipworth said.
“He has been fantastic, he is similar to Dyson in the way he gets on with working hard, improving his game and doesn’t seem to get too flustered.”
“We see him playing as a 23rd man this year so we can guarantee him at least five games but then latter in the year getting in the best 22 on our list.”
He knows that he has a lot of work to do to be drafted to an AFL team and is looking to Essendon’s VFL team to provide him with that platform.
“The ultimate goal is obviously to be drafted at the end of the year,”
“Until then I have to focus on stringing a few games together, working on what I have to do and hopefully the team can have a good crack at the finals come the end of the year”.
Heppell will be looking to feature in the clubs first round match against the Casey Scorpions on Sunday April 6th at Windy Hill.
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