Essendon acting captain Brendon Goddard is embracing his new role with his leadership abilities coming as second nature to him.

 The 29-year-old superstar said shouldering the responsibility during Jobe Watson’s absence from the team hasn’t been something that he finds daunting.

“I enjoy responsibility, I like responsibility, I’m a control freak, it’s part of my personality so I’m not scared of shying away from responsibility whatsoever,” he said.

“There is an inner drive in me.”

“I’m one of the most competitive people that I know and you can probably see that in my body language that I portray.”

The former Saint has had a sensational patch of form in the three weeks since Watson’s injury including a monster 16-dispsoal last quarter effort against Adelaide, dragging the team across the line.

“It’s hard to pin-point a particular time or moment but you can probably say that in the last couple of weeks with Jobe being out I feel that level of responsibility to the group, to take control of situations.”

“I think it’s been a progression over a long period of time and being in certain situations and playing 230 odd games you can identify situations in games that you need to stand up and see it as an important part in the game.”

Goddard praised the work of fellow leadership group members including Brent Stanton and Jason Winderlich in assisting with the absence of the captain.

He also singled out young gun Dyson Heppell for the way he has stood up in crucial patches during matches.

“Obviously Dyson Heppell,” he said.

“It’s good to see Dyson get some of the recognition he deserves- he’s a super player, he’s an elite preparer and he’s a guy that I saw come into the system and just figured out what it takes to play AFL footy, and consistent AFL footy.”

A career best 40 disposals from Heppell was unfortunately not enough to get the Bombers over the line against Geelong last Friday night.

Essendon will now begin to prepare to tackle Port Adelaide this Saturday night, who surrendered their position at the top of the table after a costly loss to Adelaide on Sunday.