Pulling on the ‘Big V’ jumper is an experience Essendon VFL captain Daniel Coghlan says he will cherish forever.

Coghlan was part of the VFL representative side that took on the SANFL in enemy territory at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.

“It was a great experience all round, one I will never forget,” Coghlan said.

“It was a pretty surreal week, just meeting the boys a couple of times and getting over to Adelaide and even walking out onto Adelaide Oval yesterday was fantastic.”

The South Australians proved too strong winning by 19 points, 16.10 (106) to the Vic’s 13.9 (87).

Coghlan gathered 19 disposals (six kicks, 13 handballs), six clearances, three marks, one tackle, two inside 50’s and kicked a goal.

“It was good, I worked into it. In the first quarter I was a bit quiet and as a team we didn’t play the footy that we wanted to play,” he said.

“It was pretty outside and not too many contests. It was really tough, a lot of up and back running but it was good fun.”

Victorian coach Andy Collins used Coghlan in a role similar to what he plays with the Bombers.

“I played mainly inside mid and a little bit forward; I was watching a couple of their onballers and trying to stop them from getting clearances. I played my role to a certain degree,” he said.

The Vic’s made it known that they wanted to rectify the SANFL’s dominance in the state clashes, but the SANFL have claimed bragging rights in the last four matches against the traditional rivals.

“Collo put the challenge on us to play four quarters and we come back in that last quarter, we just couldn’t get over the line unfortunately,” Coghlan said.

“We were never out of the contest and we fought hard until the end, that’s the main thing.”

Getting to know some of his teammates from rival clubs was one of the highlights of the week for the Bombers skipper, who took notes that he may bring back to Essendon against Sandringham on June 12.

“It’s weird getting to see players from different clubs have different ways, some get the tunes going before and a bit of pump up stuff like that,” Coghlan said.

“There was a couple of little things I might bring back to the boys to get us going considering we have started slow the last couple of games. We might try a few things out.”

Coghlan said he was appreciative of the well-wishes in the lead up to the game.

“It was a surprise, this is my fourth year at Essendon and I wouldn’t have ever thought I’d get the chance to pull on the ‘Big V,” he said.

“I’d like to thank everyone around Essendon, my family and friends from back home up in Warby; I appreciate the messages and every bit of support I got throughout the week.”