BEN HOWLETT was out of contract, in demand and looking for some certainty.

It was last year's trade period, and the Essendon midfielder was weighing up a two-year deal at the Bombers or a return to Western Australia.

He didn't know if James Hird was going to return as coach, if Mark Thompson was going to stay on or what the club's plans were.

Paddy Ryder had signalled his intention to leave, others were considering it and Howlett was desperate for more information.

"I was a bit uncertain for a while, more just around where the club was heading at that stage. I was a bit unsure who the coach was going to be and unsure about things around the club," Howlett told AFL.com.au.

"I had a good one-on-one chat to Hirdy and said 'Look, I want to know you're going to be the coach for the whole year'. I know he believes in me, and I play my best footy under Hirdy."

Howlett thought about it some more, and talked to teammates and close friends Travis Colyer and David Myers – also relocated West Australians – about what he should do. They were sympathetic about his predicament, but didn't want him to leave.

Hird was backed in as coach of Essendon after a couple of dicey weeks, and the Bombers midfielder agreed to a new deal through to the end of 2016.

He isn't sure if he would have made the same choice had Hird not been guaranteed the job.

"I didn't really want to leave, because Essendon's the club that gave me my opportunity and definitely where all my mates are. But there is that lure of family and going home, and you have to plan for the future," he said.

"I'm 26 now and I'll be 28 at the end of this contract and most guys are pretty lucky if they [are still playing at] 30 now, so you have to look at it that way too. It made my decision easier talking with those players and Hirdy."

Hird has been welcomed back by the players since he took back the coaching reins following his 12-month ban. The Bombers are 2-1 after three rounds, playing positive and attacking footy, and look a settled team.

They have felt a sense of relief since March 31, when the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal cleared 34 past and present Essendon players of taking a banned substance.

ASADA confirmed this week it will not pursue an appeal, but the World Anti-Doping Agency now has just under three weeks to decide if it will appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Howlett said throughout the saga the players had leant on each other, with Hird included.

"He sees the guys we have in the team now and everything we've been through, and wants to see us have some success," Howlett said.

"We've been put through something that nobody probably is ever going to go through again in their lives and [he's] been a part of that as well. It's sort of special in a way.

"It's something we'll look back on in 20 years and say we went through that together and we didn't break once or split from the team once.

"Nobody deviated from what we were going through and spoke out, or lashed out and said something. We all stuck together and went through it together."

Howlett last week played his 100th game for the club since making his debut in round one, 2010. The milestone meant plenty for the hard-at-it midfielder and half-forward, given he was overlooked in three drafts before Essendon picked him as a rookie.

"You start thinking that it was never going to happen," he said. "Just to be given that little bit of opportunity was brilliant."

He continues to get thrown around in different roles – from run-with player to ball-winner to crumbing small forward – and is happy doing any of them. This year he is aiming to kick 20 goals for the season (already he's notched three), and also to take more of the responsibility upon himself.

Howlett is Essendon's leading tackler, and is happy to block, bump or shove an opponent if it helps one of his teammates get the ball. Last year, Thompson encouraged him to think a little more about himself than others.

"I remember in my interviews with the coaches last year 'Bomber' said to me that I'm probably too selfless at times, which is something that's probably stuck with me," Howlett said.

"His message was to take the game on. I'm always trying to do the team thing, but he was saying to me that it might be too much and that I need to find a balance."

That's a gradual adjustment for him, and one that he'll continue to refine on Saturday, in his fifth Anzac Day clash against the Magpies.

The Bombers were not at their best against the Blues last week, being thrashed in clearances and contested possessions, but were able to win comfortably. Howlett sees it as a development within the team.

"Over the last three years if we had got in that sort of situation we probably would have lost the game," he said.

"That's where we've probably matured as a side now where we can grind out those games, and still win them even though they're ugly."