Dyson Heppell says this was the moment he and his returning teammates were looking forward to when their football lives were turned upside down last year.
The Bombers Captain will lead his side on to the field against Hawthorn on Saturday night in front of an expected crowd of more than 80,000 people.
“It’s a very exciting week and if you look back 18 months ago this was the point we were really looking forward to,” Heppell said.
“There has been a great buzz around the Club this week and a bit of extra excitement about it with the returning players.
“There will be a huge array of emotions that will roll through us.
“Coming into round one, the emotion is huge no matter what team you are playing for.”
Heppell expects the emotion to quickly subside once the ball is bounced.
The match will be his first home and away game since taking over the Captaincy and will pit him against fellow Leongatha product and Hawthorn Captain Jarryd Roughead.
“It’s a small country town with 6,000 odd people – so for the two of us to Captain quite substantial AFL clubs is very unique," Heppell said.
“I don’t think it has happened too many times before where you’ve got two guys from the same town captaining clubs so it’s pretty exciting for the both of us.
“It has been a huge honour and I’ve really enjoyed my first month in the role.
“You learn as you go and I’m certainly bouncing a lot of things off Jobe and the other fantastic leaders at the Club."
Heppell is confident the work he and his returning teammates have endured over the pre-season has them well prepared for the start of the season.
“We’re really comfortable that we’ve put ourselves in the best shape we can to perform in round one,” Heppell said.
“Obviously with the chemistry building in the group and not having played for 18 months it’s going to take a bit of time.
“We think we’re ready to hit the ground running but who knows it might take a couple [of weeks] to build.
“It’s a bit of an unknown on how we will go this year but we can take some real positives from the pre-season.
“We’re really developing and worked on a lot of things over the JLT Series and I think we’re in a pretty good space coming into round one.”
