Essendon midfielder Dyson Heppell conceded his stunning second-half display against the West Coast Eagles on the weekend was a result of a newfound confidence in his playing style.

Heppell was well held with just 10 disposals in the first half, before a massive 29-disposal effort in the second half to will the Bombers over the line by just three points over the Eagles and keep their finals chances alive.

The 22-year-old admitted he is now at a stage in his career where he sticks to what he knows works for him.

“Maybe in previous years, with the lack of experience, if I had a poor first half I’d probably tend to get lost for the rest of the game,” he said.

“Hutchings had the better of me in the first half and I just kept trying to keep doing what has been working for me in previous weeks.”

“I’ve got 80 odd games under my belt now, and I’ve played in a lot of close games in the previous four years, so instead of waiting for someone else to step up in those kinds of situations, amongst the leadership group we put it on ourselves to try and take control of those situations.”

“I felt I had a fair impact in that second half and I was quite please that I was able to turn my game around, especially after half time.”

On the back of a sub-standard first half, the 82-gamer flourished following a shift to the half back line after the main break.

“The aim was to try to create more run and overlap and drive the ball deeper into our forward line,” Heppell said.

“It come from the coaching staff, and I was happy to play that role.”

“I try not to get caught up in it too much but I think my move to half back freed me up a bit and I managed to get a bit of it there.”

“I just tried to create more run and dash off half back and I guess I took a bit of an attacking mindset into the second half, and it paid off.”

Heppell, who has arguably been the player who has taken the biggest step in lifting their game to the next level during the absence of the skipper Jobe Watson, has now firmed into equal third in the Brownlow Medal betting market.

He ranks third in total disposals for 2014, averaging 28.4 a game, yet was quick to play down the prospect with his sights firmly fixed on a potential finals campaign.

Essendon sit seventh on the ladder with two rounds remaining, and could almost sew up a finals spot with a win against the Gold Coast this weekend.

“Purely and simply team. I don’t read too much into it at all,” said Heppell.

“We’re really looking forward to what may be a good finals campaign, because I think we’ve shown that at our best we can beat anyone.”

“It’s a very exciting time of the year for the club with a couple of game to go and hopefully we can perform and look for a big finals campaign.”

“If we can get some consistent form over the next couple of weeks, you never know what could happen.”