Bomber's forward James Stewart has signed a new contract with the club, expanding his stay at Essendon, per essendonfc.com.au.

Stewart has agreed to a two-year contract that will see him pinned to the Tullamarine until the end of the 2022 season.

The forward has said he is excited to be playing under coach Ben Rutten again in the 2021 season and acknowledged the support from his team and family over the season.

“I’m very happy to extend until at least the end of 2022 and commit to building towards the success we are after as a footy club,” Stewart said.

“2020 has been such a unique year and on reflection, I have absolutely loved the challenges that have been brought about from it. I feel like I have grown both as a person and as a player during this time.

“I’m looking forward to developing my game closely under ‘Truck’ (Ben Rutten) over another pre-season as we move into the 2021 season.

“I look forward to resuming at the club with the boys for training and the thought of playing at home on the G’ with our supporters again next season excites me.

“I would also love to make special mention to my family and friends at home who have shown me amazing love and support, not only during this tough year but always.”

List and recruiting general manager Adrian Dodoro has said Stewart is a "focal point" at the Bombers, saying he is excited to see what he'll bring in the coming seasons.

“We’re really happy to have re-signed James, who we believe is a real quality key forward,” Dodoro said.

“It’s great to see the way he has come back from his injuries in 2019. He really became a focal point for us in the second half of the season and competed really well in the 10 games he played.

“He’s a powerful player standing at nearly two metres tall and we believe if he can keep his body right, then he can be the player we need up forward to either take contested marks or bring the ball to ground for our small forwards.

“We look forward to seeing what James can produce with continual improvement over the coming years.”

Joining the red and black in 2016, Stewart originally found himself at GWS after being drafted from the Sandringham Dragons.

After a groin injury sent him off the paying field for almost 800 days, Stewart finally played his first AFL game since 2018 in round nine this year.

The forward helped to fill their gaps in attack and went on to play 10 games this season.