Exciting young Bomber Aaron Francis says he is in a “very good space” and loving his time at The Hangar after receiving this week’s NAB AFL Rising Star nomination.

Francis took indefinite leave from the club due to address his mental health earlier this year but hasn’t missed a beat since his return and is grateful for the enormous amount of support he has received.

“(I am) in a very good space now after a lot of help from teammates and staff members around here,” Francis said on Monday.

“I really thank the teammates around me, especially the younger boys, I feel like we’ve created a great bond together.

“I’m really proud of myself for one, and proud of them.”

The nomination follows Francis’ outstanding performance in Essendon’s narrow eight-point loss to Richmond on Friday, and he said it was nice to be recognised for his efforts on and off the field.

“It’s been pretty hard I guess, but I’ve put in a mountain of work since I came back at the start of the year,” he said.

“I had a lot of help from all of the boys around the club and a lot of staff members contributed to that and I feel pretty honoured.

“I had pretty challenging match-ups – I was on Dusty Martin there for a little bit (which was) a bit worrying – but I thought I held my ground for most of the night. I thought it was good.”

Francis was terrific in the air on Friday, pulling in eight marks – four contested – and reading the play better than anyone among his more senior teammates and opponents.

His work once he had the football was just as impressive, distributing his 13 disposals cleanly (84.6 per cent efficiency) with great vision and skill.

Francis has been forced to be patient this year, stringing together a number of standout performances in the VFL before he was eventually selected to return to the senior side in round 19 against Sydney.

And the South Australian admitted it was challenging when couldn’t break into the line-up.

“(It was) very frustrating to be honest. As soon as I came back I felt that I was ready to play.

“It probably took a few games after a few cramping issues (to get into form). I finally built some games (together), game after game, and got a real fitness base behind me.

“Then the coaches took a punt and put me out there and then it paid off.”

He said he initially had some doubts about his ability at the top level, but two strong efforts in the last fortnight have seen Francis’ self-belief grow.

“The first three games (this year) were a bit shaky, I thought. I had a few moments where I felt I was a little bit out of place,” he said.

“But on the weekend I thought I was playing the way that I want to play.”        

Having now broken back into the side and found form at the top level, Francis says he still has a number of areas he would like to enhance.

“I see my strengths as my kicking and marking, I’d like to make those a real weapon of mine going forward.

“And then a lot of injury-prevention stuff, I’ve had a few niggling injuries that have kept me out of playing for a little while, so just getting on top of that (will be a focus).”

The season may not end for Francis this weekend as the VFL Bombers chase a finals berth, and he said he is keen to finish the year strongly.

“(My goal is to) just to finish off the season as best as I can. We’ve got Port Adelaide over there, so that will be a tough challenge because they’re still wanting to play finals.

“So I’ve got to really step up and (then) get ready for the VFL finals if they win on the weekend, so I’m really excited for that.”