Brendon Goddard is still coming to terms with being an Essendon player, but already wants to be more of a leader at his new club than he was at his old one.
The 27-year-old, who crossed to the Bombers as a restricted free agent after 205 games at St Kilda, has been in training with the Bombers for the last month since joining a select group of players in Colorado on its high-altitude training camp.
Although nominated as a possible captain of St Kilda next season had he stayed at the club, Goddard has a sense he needs to use his experience even more at the Bombers.
"Hanging around with the boys, you actually realise how young they are as players and men as well," Goddard said on Monday.
"Looking through the profiles and list [you see] how inexperienced they are. There's a lot of scope and a lot talent within the group, and there's lot of growth.
"They're younger and inexperienced, whereas at St Kilda they had the luxury of a large core group of players who were really experienced."
Goddard was again reluctant to go into detail on the reasons behind his departure from St Kilda, but cited Essendon's four-year deal as one of many factors.
Saints coach Scott Watters has previously declared Goddard's move was all about the money.
"There's obviously two sides to the story," Goddard said.
"I'm not going to go into detail or comment on what they want to say or how they go about it, but there was obviously reasons behind the move and they're entitled to their opinions and thoughts."
Another selling point for the utility was the chance to settle down in the midfield. Goddard has the ability to play nearly every role on the field, but has his eyes set on one.
"I think I've made it pretty clear one of the benefits was a permanent spot in the midfield," he said.
"Last year I did play 90 per cent of my footy as a half-forward. so that was something that appealed to me a lot – to be played as a permanent midfielder and try to get the best out of myself in a footy sense and the footy club can offer a lot for me personally as well."
