Essendon forward Kyle Reimers had a reputation for being an individual in a team game.

The 22-year-old knew he had to take drastic steps to repair his image under new coach James Hird.

Last year, coach Matthew Knights was happy for Reimers to be "expressing himself" by strutting around in garish orange boots, so long as he was getting a kick.

But under the Hird regime, both coach and player felt it would be an important step for the West Australian to throw them out the window, which is what he did.

Hird made Reimers sweat on his return to AFL ranks, not bringing him back into the side until the past two weeks against Collingwood and Gold Coast.

Reimers played the game of his life against the Suns, drilling eight goals in Essendon's 139-point win, including three in the record first-quarter blitz of 15.4 (94).

"I made the decision in the off-season to throw them out the window and just stick to the normal colours," the white-booted Reimers said on Sunday at Etihad Stadium.

"But all the players have stuck behind me and supported me.

"I want to be known as having a team-first mentality. Individuals don't win games.

"Just to keep improving and play my role for the team, do the team things first."

Hird said 42-game veteran Reimers was "fortunate" to be able to feast on the spoils of Essendon's dominance further afield.

"Kyle has worked very hard to get his place in this team. We haven't made it easy for him," Hird said.

"We probably could have played him two or three weeks earlier, the way he was playing in the reserves.

"But we want every player who gets a game for Essendon to work hard for it and play within the team.

"When you've got a reputation for being an individual, you maybe have to take a couple of steps back to show that you're a team player, prove to the rest of your teammates that you're part of a team.

"He's doing that at the moment, which is a real credit to him."

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