In only his first year at the club, young star Jayden Laverde is taking the rigors of professional football in his stride.

Drafted by the Bombers at pick 20 in the 2014 National Draft, Laverde has slowly but surely adapted to the fast-paced lifestyle of the professional footballer.

“You can see a bit of change in yourself since you first come to the club to now,” Laverde said.

“I’m loving every moment of it and I just want to keep learning and developing as my career goes on.”

Laverde was quick to praise the influence of other senior players in his development to date, particularly Joe Daniher, Jake Carlisle, Kyle Hardingham and Shaun Edwards.

“Training with the senior boys every week has been really beneficial.

“Everyone sort of helps everyone out.”

A versatile player able to play all over the ground, Laverde has enjoyed being locked down across the half-forward line and being able to focus on this aspect of his game.

“That’s the position I’ve been playing and learning and developing.

“I’m loving it so far and wouldn’t mind to play there a fair bit this year.

“Hopefully I’ll move onto the midfield later in my career, but for now I’m happy playing up forward.”

The decision to move Laverde up forward seems to be paying dividends already for the VFL side. Laverde enjoyed a good day out with two goals and 15 disposals in the win against Collingwood over the weekend.

It was the first win for Essendon VFL after a heartbreaking loss to Sandringham in the opening round of the season.

“We learnt from our mistakes last week, especially as a forward group,” Laverde said.

“It was good to see that we all adapted from last week.”

The whole team were clear on where they had gone wrong the in the opening round loss and were eager to make up for their mistakes.

“Just being a lot more selfless as a forward group and just working with each other."

“Also getting back and filling up the ground, helping the midfielders and defence when the ball isn’t in our area.”

Happy to continue learning in the VFL, Laverde will still aim to play senior footy later in the year and if he is able to keep up his early form and positive attitude, he will be sure to catch the eyes of the coaches come selection time.