New Essendon coach Brad Scott says there’s a “strong likelihood” Dyson Heppell will remain as the club’s captain in 2023.
Heppell has held the role as skipper since 2017, but with the veteran entering his 13th season at the top level, calls have come for him to step aside and allow a younger leader like Zach Merrett take the reins.
While the Bombers are yet to vote on their leadership group for the upcoming season, Scott says he suspects Heppell will remain in the role once that takes place.
“We’ve said all along that Dyson Heppell is our captain,” Scott told reporters on Friday.
“That will remain up until we go through our process. I suspect there’s a strong likelihood that it’ll still be the case.
“I think we’ve been on record that we’ll work through our process and I’ll have a lot of ongoing discussions with Dyson.”
Scott says the Bombers will announce their captain and leadership group ahead of their unofficial scratch match against the Suns on February 23.
“We’ll finalise our process before we play Gold Coast in our unofficial match-sim, then we’ll be able to be in a position to announce that,” Scott said.
“I couldn’t be more impressed with Dyson Heppell, I’ve admired him from afar for a long period of time.
“He’s lead this club through quite a challenging period in his career.
“He’s been super impressive and if he wants to continue as captain, I suspect that’ll happen.”
The Bombers kick off their 2023 campaign proper when they face the Hawks at the MCG on March 19.