Wangaratta, Leongatha: Dyson Heppell stars on debut for Parrots

Dyson Heppell has starred for Leongatha and new Wangaratta coach Jason Heatley enjoyed first-up success in Wang Derby.

Wangaratta gatecrashed old foes Wangaratta Rovers’ 2024 flag celebrations and milestone man Brodie Filo hitting 500 career matches with a 12-point victory in the Ovens & Murray league on Saturday.

In the stand-alone clash, Wangaratta provided new coach Jason Heatley with the perfect start in the job when it hung tough in the second half.

The Rovers jumped out to a 15-point lead with the first three goals after halftime.

But Wangaratta responded brilliantly, curbing the dominance of Rovers’ superstar coach Sam Murray, who had 30 possessions in the first half.

Wangaratta ruckman Chris Knowles and Rovers’ opponent Lockey McCartney compete for the ball. Picture Yuri Kouzmin

Wangaratta led by one point at three quarter time and outscored Rovers five goals to three in the final term.

First-gamer Jasper Craven booted the sealer at the 25-minute mark.

He was moved onto Murray in the second half and finished an outstanding debut match with three goals.

Heatley took over from Ben Reid as coach at the end of last year when the Magpies also lost their champion player of recent seasons, Callum Moore.

A solid Rovers’ home crowd watched co-president Wendy Lester unfurl the club’s first flag since 1994 before the match.

Wangaratta Rovers’ Stuart Booth marks on the lead in front of Wangaratta’s Harrison Smart on Saturday. Picture Yuri Kouzmin

Heatley was full of admiration for his team, which went into the match big underdogs, and responded when seriously challenged in the third term.

“When you look at the environment, the atmosphere, and what the day was all about, for us to be able to demonstrate that we will be competitive was really pleasing,” he said.

“I still think we’ve got a lot of upside.

“There were a couple of times when their big bodies got hold of us.

“Perceptively when you look at it, we could have conceded another three (goals).

“But that’s when we really dug in and got some real growth.

“Those games today for some of our players probably add up to 15 games in terms of where they are at.”

After a slow start, Heatley’s son Parker also finished with three goals and another key contributor, Jackson Clarke, booted two.

Midfielder Brad Melville, who had horror run with injury last year, starred for the Magpies as did Alex Federico.

Wangaratta’s Xavier Laverty makes in front of Rovers opponent Jace McQuade on Saturday. Yuri Kouzmin

Ruckman Chris Knowles also had the better of the Rovers’ big men, Will Christie and Ed Dayman, with the latter clearly hampered by injury.

Rovers star recruit Nathan Cooper started forward before being swung into a more customary role in defence in the final term.

“We’ve got a bit to work on,” Rovers’ coach Sam Murray said.

“I thought there were some positives, but I thought we played the game a little bit too much on their terms.

“We need to play a bit more controlled footy which we showed a fair bit of last year, but weren’t able to find today.”

Wangaratta Rovers played on its player points limit of 36 points in round 1.

GIPPSLAND

Former Essendon captain Dyson Heppell starred in his first senior match for Leongatha in more than 15 years when he was a surprise starter in the grand final replay against reigning premier Traralgon on Saturday night.

Heppell, who was not named in selected team, made an earlier than expected appearance for his original club, which beat Traralgon by 17 points in the round 1 clash following a shock grand final loss last year.

The 32-year-old will this year play mostly for VFL club Port Melbourne, but it had a bye at the weekend.

Port Melbourne coach Brendan McCartney was spotted watching his son Lockey play for Wangaratta Rovers on Saturday.

Winners are grinners. Pic courtesy of Dan Eddy. ⁦@theweeklytimes⁩ ⁦@ctryfootyscores⁩ ⁦@GippslandFooty⁩ pic.twitter.com/KUY2VFze0B

— David Johnston (@david_johnston5) April 5, 2025

Heppell, who debuted for Leongatha, aged 15, finished with 27 possessions, 19 kicks and eight handballs against Traralgon.

His brother Aaron also collected 24 touches in his first match since 2023 after spending last year travelling overseas.

Traralgon kicked the last three goals of the third term to trail by 16 points at three quarter time before Jenson Garnham booted a goal inside the first minute of the last quarter to provide some breathing space for Leongatha.

Traralgon rallied again and trailed by only 10 points at the 11-minute mark.

But the Heppell brothers combined for a goal to Aaron to clinch the opening round win.

Kim Drew and Tom Marriott also starred in the win for Leongatha with Buln Buln 2024 century goalkicker Patrick Ireland booting two goals in his first match for the Parrots.

Warragul beat flag fancy Wonthaggi by one point in the upset of the first round.

Originally published as Wangaratta, Leongatha: Dyson Heppell stars on debut for Parrots