Former Hawthorn premiership player Mark Williams says he believes his best football is still ahead of him following his move to Essendon.

The 26-year-old, who booted 242 goals in 111 games with the Hawks after making his debut in 2002, made the switch on Thursday night as part of a four-club trade that also saw the Bombers give up Jay Nash and picks 16 and 42 and helped Power star Shaun Burgoyne become a Hawk.

Facing the media on Friday morning with his new coach Matthew Knights, quietly-spoken former Western Australian said he sensed better opportunities at Windy Hill than would have been the case at Waverley.

"Yeah I suppose it became a bit like that (stale) with (Lance) Franklin, (Jarryd) Roughead and (Cyril) Rioli coming through (at Hawthorn)," Williams said.

"Yeah I do (think my best football is in front of me) actually (and) I just want to come in and just rejuvenate and Essendon are on the way up.

"(I want to) come here and play my role in the side and do what Matthew (Knights) expects from me and hopefully we'll have a successful year."

While Williams was also swayed by the chance to join a 'powerhouse' club that also has a 'good indigenous base', Knights said landing the goal-kicker and also picking up a couple of extra draft picks had made it an ideal week for the Bombers.

"Mark is a young man we targeted and wanted to achieve out of this week and we certainly late last night were over the moon to have him at our football club," Knights said.

"I suppose what attracted us to Mark was 1) his leadership and his experience but 2) his creativity and his X-factor … but we're just really rapt to have him so it's good to have him on board."

"I've always been an admirer of the way Mark played his football … (and) what really pleased us was that Mark made it very clear that he wanted to come to the Essendon Football Club badly and be a part of this young group moving forward."

"We feel like we've achieved what we wanted to achieve out of the week so far, along with Mark four picks under 33 so we're comfortable and now we've got to solidify and make these picks count."