The Bombers first outing of the season was a step in the right direction according to Crichton Medal winner Brendon Goddard.

After leading for much of the opening JLT Community Series match against Collingwood, the Dons were overrun in the last term but Goddard said there were plenty of positives the team could take away.

“We’ve been working on a fair bit during the pre-season and just the nuts and bolts of it all and the foundations of our game was pretty solid,” Goddard said.

“Our team defence was strong, a lot of forward half turnovers and offensively we scored quite freely at times and then probably tapered off with fatigue in the last quarter, but all in all it was really positive.” 

The Essendon line-up contained six returning players featuring in their first official game for the Club in more than 12 months. 

“They pulled up really well physically and mentally I think it was more of a challenge for them,” Goddard said. 

“It was exciting for everyone at the footy club and personally I was excited for them.

“You could see they were a little bit anxious and rightfully so having missed a lot of football and then coming back this year.

“Playing footy again was a good relief for them, putting everything behind them and now they can move on and just concentrate of footy and footy problems.” 

The match against the Pies was also the first time Dyson Heppell led the Club on to the field as Captain for 2017.

Goddard said Heppell has always displayed strong leadership qualities. 

“He’s been like a duck to water, he was ready for the role,” Goddard said. 

“You could see he was a natural born leader.”