Essendon on-baller Jake Melksham was one of the shining lights in the Bombers 12 point round one loss to Sydney.

Melksham picked up 20 possessions, laid nine tackles and kicked a goal.

Was Melksham your MVP of the night? Have your say now. 

It was the result of an intense pre-season. 

“I just had to go back to the basics and work a lot harder.  I worked on a few deficiencies.  I ran around tagging ‘Hep’ (Dyson Heppell) and David Zaharakis, so I was playing on some of the best payers in the competition so they’ve put me in good stead for the season,” Melksham said.

He and his fellow midfielders dominated the clearances (16-8) and inside 50’s (18-5) during the first quarter against the Swans.

The side took a 26-point advantage into the first break. 

That lead had extended to 34 points by three quarter time despite the loss of David Myers early in the match.

“He is a big body and contested footy is his game,” Melksham said. 

“It was hard losing him early but we showed for those first couple of quarters that it doesn’t matter who is out on the park that we can play footy.”

Melksham was one of many Bombers to sit out the NAB Challenge but he says the disjointed preparation wasn’t factor in the last quarter fade-out.

“I think because the game was in tight and close there wasn’t really a lot of covering of the ground. 

“The thing that I felt the most was just the contact - something we tried to emulate at training but you can’t get as close to Sydney on the track.

“Hirdy just said in the rooms before that we could take a lot out of that game.  It’s a missed opportunity but we’ve had a run now and we’ve got the run in our legs and we should be good to go for next week.” 

The Bombers next play Hawthorn at the MCG on Sunday in the club’s first home game of the season.