ESSENDON recruit Jake Stringer says he has "grown up a little bit" and has begun enjoying his football again.

Preparing to play his 100th game in his first Dreamtime at the 'G clash against Richmond on Saturday night, the former Bulldog believes a greater level of maturity has transferred to matches.

Told he was no longer required at Whitten Oval after a lean 2017 campaign, Stringer was given a fresh start at Essendon.

"Everyone goes through their struggles in their life. I've had mine, but I feel like I'm in a good place now and I think it's starting to show on the footy field," he said on Tuesday.

"I'm starting to really enjoy my footy again, which is something I've probably missed over the last couple of years.

"You've got to be able to play under adversity, and there was probably a year or two where I wasn't very good at it.

"That's good learning for me that I've probably grown up a little bit and seem to be going OK at the minute."

After calls from AFL legend Wayne Carey for Stringer to be dropped as Essendon slumped to 2-6 following its loss to Carlton in round eight, Stringer has bounced back in the past fortnight.

More midfield time has led to arguably his two strongest performances of the year in back-to-back wins, including three goals and 16 disposals against Greater Western Sydney on Saturday night.

"I've had it my whole career, everyone wants to drop me," Stringer said.

"It's a part of football, people are going to say you're not going well when you're not going well.

"Then when you're going well everyone tells you you're going well.

"You can run around at half-forward and have six or seven touches, you've probably run 9-10kms and you feel like you're nowhere near it.

"When you get to go into the midfield at least the ball's near you, sometimes you need only 3-4 minutes to be able to have an impact and get yourself involved in the game."

The 24-year-old said the switch between midfield and attack was a quarter-by-quarter discussion with where the team needed him most.

He said his main priority at his new home was earning respect from his teammates, something that was continuing to grow.