Chris Heffernan

Chris Joel Heffernan (born 29 January 1979) is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Chris Heffernan
Personal information
Full name Chris Joel Heffernan
Nickname(s) The Heff
Date of birth (1979-01-29) 29 January 1979
Original team(s) [Terang Bloods]
Draft 2nd overall, 1996 AFL Draft
Height 186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 83 kg (183 lb)
Position(s) Midfielder
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1997–2002 Essendon 97 (38)
2003–2005 Melbourne 47 (10)
2006–2007 Essendon 26 (8)
Total 170 (56)
International team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
2000 Australia 2 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2007.
2 State and international statistics correct as of 2000.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

AFL career

Known affectionately as "The Big Heffa", Chris began his career in 1997 with the Essendon Football Club. Heffernan had a brilliant year in 2000 when he played solid consistent football in the midfield and was part of the Bombers side that lost only one game for the entire season, winning the AFL Grand Final and Ansett Cup Final in the process. Heffernan was also rewarded with an appearance in the International rules series in 2000. Heffernan also played in another AFL Grand Final (albeit a losing one) in 2001.

However, when Essendon ran into salary cap issues at the end of the 2002 season, he was traded to the Melbourne Football Club for a swap of first round draft selections.[1][2]

His trade to Melbourne only months after signing a three-year contract with Essendon, prompted the AFL Players Association to introduce the Heffernan Clause into the players standard collective bargaining agreement, to prevent players from being traded within 12 months of signing a contract.[3]

Heffernan did not have the same spark at Melbourne. He finished the 2003 with a depressed fracture of his cheekbone[4] and had a solid year in 2004 before getting suspended and missing the finals at the end of the season, but in 2005 his performances were average. At the end of 2005 Melbourne delisted Heffernan, but Essendon picked him up with the last pick in the 2006 AFL preseason draft.[5]

Heffernan played out the rest of his career with the Bombers, before announcing his retirement from AFL football on 2 October 2007 after being told that he was unlikely to play often under new coach Matthew Knights.[6][7]

In 2020, Heffernan released his Autobiography "Heffernan: More than meets the eye". The book was poorly received, with very limited sales thought to be mostly family and friends.

Personal life

After retiring from football he worked in New York for Deutsche Bank for three years before returning to Melbourne to work for Ernst and Young. In 2011 he joined the Essendon Football Club board as a non-executive director.[8]

Playing Statistics
[9]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
1997 Essendon 2630011920450.00.03.73.06.71.31.7
1998 Essendon 261230715312412310.30.05.94.410.31.02.6
1999 Essendon 262213422611934560410.60.210.35.415.72.71.9
2000 Essendon 26214619411530954670.20.39.25.514.72.63.2
2001 Essendon 2616651106917936330.40.36.94.311.22.32.1
2002 Essendon 262312419510129658640.50.28.54.412.92.52.8
2003 Melbourne 1207418811530360610.40.29.45.815.23.03.1
2004 Melbourne 1182416511928444710.10.29.26.615.82.43.9
2005 Melbourne 191345358020280.10.35.03.98.92.23.1
2006 Essendon 26196415414730166720.30.28.17.715.83.53.8
2007 Essendon 2672042428416260.30.06.06.012.02.33.7
Career 170 56 34 1401 924 2325 430 499 0.3 0.2 8.2 5.4 13.7 2.5 2.9

References
  1. Niall, Jake (8 June 2003). "Expect to see more big players in the market". The Age. Melbourne.
  2. Quayle, Emma (31 January 2003). "Heffernan slowly being demonised By". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  3. Rielly, Stephen (2 July 2003). "Heffernan clause might not last long". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  4. Rielly, Stephen (15 August 2003). "Ex-Don a Demon for punishment". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  5. Spits, Scott (9 March 2006). "Next Goal inspires Heffernan".
  6. "Heffernan ends Bombers career". Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  7. "Heffernan, Camporeale retire from AFL". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 October 2007. Archived from the original on 30 December 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  8. "Directors". Archived from the original on 30 October 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  9. Chris Heffernan's player profile at AFL Tables
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