THE ESTEEM with which David Myers is held at Essendon has been underlined with his elevation to the club's leadership group for 2014.

Michael Hurley and David Zaharakis will no longer be part of the revamped group that includes captain Jobe Watson, Brent Stanton, Heath Hocking, Brendon Goddard, Jason Winderlich and Dyson Heppell as the Bombers' on-field leaders.

The announcement comes just weeks after 24-year-old Myers signed a two-year contract extension with the Bombers tying him to the club until the end of 2016. 

Myers' future was the subject of much speculation during the trade period as other clubs tried to woo the out-of-contract midfielder.

However Essendon was quick to declare him a required player.

Myers looks set for plenty of time on the ball this year - statistics show that 78.5 percent of his possessions were won in the midfield last season, the highest percentage of his career. 

The West Australian told essendonfc.com.au it was humbling to be voted into the leadership group. 

"It is a great honour, obviously we have a great bunch of guys here at the club, so to be voted in by your mates is a good vote of confidence and really humbling.

"You go about your football to try and prepare the best you can but to get the tick of approval from your teammates is really exciting.

"We are really lucky here with the guys we have at the club as we have a really high calibre of person we can look to in order to learn from."

Myers has played 65 games and kicked 21 goals for the Bombers since being drafted with pick No. 6 in 2007.