JASON Winderlich is fast becoming one of Essendon's most important forwards, teammate Michael Hurley says.

Winderlich produced a best-afield performance against the Western Bulldogs on Sunday night but Hurley says his greatest value is as an on-field leader.

Hurley said Winderlich is almost the unofficial coach of the Bombers' inexperienced forward line, adding that the 28-year-old's guidance had been "sensational" since his return from injury this season.

After enduring a horrific run of setbacks in recent years, Winderlich has played 11 of the past 12 games and become a key element of the Bombers' diverse attack.

Winderlich played one of his finest games against the Bulldogs, gathering 23 disposals (his best tally in three years), along with equal career-best tallies of marks (13) and goals (four). He also laid seven tackles.

He has kicked 10 goals in his past three games – the richest goalkicking form of his 11-season, 110-game career.

One of Winderlich's goals was an act of pure genius – off one step from the boundary line, and on the 'wrong' side for a right-footer.

"Jase has had a lot of bad luck and he's missed a lot of footy, but he's certainly making up for it now," Hurley told AFL.com.au post-match.

"He's a great player to have in the side for what he provides as a player and as a leader.

"He's very skillful, good one-on-one, takes contested marks and kicks goals, but I think his best asset is his leadership in the forward line. It's been just sensational. We've got quite a young forward line so his experience and leadership down there has been massive since his return.

"He's almost a coach out on the field with the way he directs things. I think guys like Stewart Crameri and Nick Kommer really appreciate his guidance. We all do.

"Hopefully his body can keeping holding up because he's very important to us."

Bombers coach James Hird also praised Winderlich's leadership skills, along with those of his fellow leaders, in the absence of injured skipper Jobe Watson.

Asked if it was Winderlich's best game, Hird was uncertain.

"His game today was excellent, outstanding, but whether it's his best or not ... he's played a lot of good games for the club and been around for a long time, and been one of the leaders of our club for a long time, so it’s good for him to get some reward tonight," he said in a post-match press conference.

"He's very versatile. Jason can play forward, wing, rotates through the backline for us as well. A player who can do that, and kick goals like that, is a luxury."

Hird views Winderlich as a luxury because there was a time when the coach questioned whether his body could withstand the game's rigours.

"Four or five years ago (he) had the back surgery and (you) probably wonder whether he's going to play again. Two years ago against Carlton – round four, 2011 – he did his knee and really didn’t play a lot last year. He's strung a lot of games together so far this year and is a dangerous forward for us," he said.

Hird and Hurley believe a Bombers' attack boasting a fit Winderlich can pose serious problems for opponents.

"We actually touched on our unpredictability before the game tonight," Hurley said. 

"Our big players are pretty good on the ground and our smaller players can take overhead marks, so it's a real strength of ours and Jase adds to that mix."

Hird said, "We're getting more goals from all sorts of areas. Last week it was (Tom) Bellchambers with five and Hurley with three, this week Winderlich pops up and kicks four. I believe that makes you harder to plan against if you've got a number of options up forward."