ESSENDON can finally play without a "black cloud" hanging over the club, says veteran Brendon Goddard.

The reunited Dons upset Hawthorn by 25 points in a round one blockbuster at the MCG on Saturday night and Goddard said it was no coincidence that it came after a conscious focus on rediscovering their love of the game.

"We've talked as a group and as individuals about playing footy for what it is, rather than carrying excess baggage or (having) a black cloud hanging over our heads," Goddard told AFL.com.au in the joyous winners' rooms post-match.

"For us, from where this group's been and from where individuals in this group have been, that's really healthy.

"(AFL football) is stressful at the best of times but now they're able to enjoy the pressure of just playing football.

"It's a great win and we'll enjoy it over the weekend, and we'll come back Monday and reset and go again."

Goddard, who captained the club last year while 10 current Bombers served season-long doping suspensions, revealed that during the week the Dons had addressed how to deal with what proved a massive show of support from the club's diehard fans.

"We're not naive, we're not stupid – we knew it was quite significant, round one, with everything that's happened, guys returning and all that," he said.

"So it was a matter of recognising that and not trying to block it out, and then focusing back on the football.

"The boys did an incredible job of that, which was evident in our performance …

"It was more a sense of relief initially when the siren went … to get it over and done with, in particular for the guys returning. A lot of relief that the first one's out of the way and it makes it even more special with a win."

Goddard said he was "not surprised at all" that the Bombers ran away with the game against the seasoned Hawks, kicking 10 of the last 13 goals after trailing by 13 points midway through the third term.

"We'd worked really hard as a group (in the pre-season) and the guys who'd had the year off worked really hard, so there was no doubt about our fitness," he said.

"A few of the guys were spent at the end but I think that was due to the weather – it was very humid so the boys were losing a lot of fluid."

As much as returning stars like skipper Dyson Heppell, Jobe Watson and Cale Hooker were influential, Goddard was particularly pleased with the efforts of the club's impressive batch of youngsters, including reigning club champion Zach Merrett (who had an equal game-high 37 possessions), Darcy Parish (25 touches and six tackles), Orazio Fantasia (four goals), Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti (17 touches and four score assists).

"We talked about the older guys returning. I had no doubt personally and as a group that they'd be able to perform," Goddard said.

"The old guys will just keep doing what they're doing and the younger guys coming through is where you're going to get big improvement from."