Jonathan Giles has enjoyed a strong performance in his debut for the red and black in Saturday's loss to St.Kilda. 

Giles’ performance headlined a number of positive signs for the Essendon list, with other regulars such as Jackson Merrett, Jason Ashby, Lauchlan Dalgleish, Marty Gleeson, Nick O’Brien and Shaun Edwards also having good games. 

“It was hard work, our first game after a long pre-season,” said Giles post match

“I thought the boys did alright out there. It’s going to take time to get used to each other as a team.”

However, it was Giles’ damaging performance both in the ruck and up forward that saw him shine through as one of the best of the day.

Looking to re-pay the faith put in him by Essendon selectors, Giles has set his standards high for the 2015 season.

“Coming across from the Giants and putting the new colours on, you always want to impress,” said Giles

“I’ve worked as hard as I can in the pre-season, so hopefully I’ll get some rewards out on game day.”

Sharing the ruck duties with other ruck man Shaun McKernan, Giles relished his place as the primary ruck finishing with 18 hit outs for the day.

Able to sneak forward and kick three important goals, Giles believed that the complimentary styles of himself and McKernan worked well on the day. 

“I enjoy playing in the ruck and I enjoy going down forward,” 

“It worked well with Shaun because he’s a pretty big and agile forward as well

“It’s good to be able to swap and rotate between the two.”

With the loss now behind them, Giles will now turn his attention to facing his old team in next week’s NAB Challenge game against the Giants.