FRIDAY night footy, a boisterous crowd of 42,000 and a win over the team many Roos fans would consider the club's mortal enemy: is there a better way to kick off a weekend?

Essendon threw everything they had at the boys in a frenetic opening, but as all good sides do, the lads withstood the onslaught to go into quarter time with the lead for the seventh straight time this year. From that point on, the Kangas never really looked threatened.

All pre-season we heard about how important it was for the club's middle tier to help ease the load on Boomer, Simmo and Shagga. As if on cue, that next group of leaders has stepped up in the early part of the season, meaning that even if one or two of that decorated trio has a quiet game, we are still a chance to get over the line.

Daniel Harris, clearly the best player on the ground on Friday night, probably typifies that call to arms more than anyone. Just shy of 100 games, Harris has taken his game to another level this year. How many blokes in the competition could gather 31 possessions in a little over 60 per cent of game time? He’s a super talent.

And it wouldn't be appropriate to talk about Harris if you didn't mention Andrew Swallow, his partner in crime on Friday night. The fearless 19-year-old racked up 24 possessions of his own against the Bombers, with an amazing 13 of those contested. In a similar vein to Harro, that incredible set of numbers was gathered from spending just under three-quarters of the game on the field.

You almost felt sorry for the Bombers' midfield with these two showing exactly why Roos fans are telling anyone who will listen that Harris and Swallow are starting to form perhaps the most ferocious centre square double-act in the competition.

But back to that middle tier. Guys like Drew Petrie, Mick Firrito, Leigh Brown and Corey Jones have worked hard to add consistency to their game, and their importance to the team's structure has never been greater.

Dual Syd Barker medallist Brady Rawlings has probably moved on from 'middle-tier' status, but his 35-possession game can't go unnoticed. After an interrupted pre-season, he has been gradually working his way back towards his best football, and showed how his phenomenal aerobic capacity can run opposition midfielders ragged.

The courageous Daniel Pratt has rarely put a foot wrong this year, and his ability to limit the damage caused by the Bombers' dangerous band of small forwards went a long way to securing the team's fourth consecutive win. Along with Jesse Smith (wow!) the Roos' defence has a nice couple of options to close down those pesky small forwards we've had so much trouble with in the past.

And before he was injured, Daniel Wells was showing all the signs of delivering on his promise of forcing his way into that elite dozen or so midfielders in the country. As much as his absence will be tough to cover over the next six weeks, the way everyone seems to be doing their bit each week, you get the feeling the loss may not be as damaging as you might have thought at the beginning of the season.

Next week it's another meeting with Carlton back up at Carrara for the second of our three Gold Coast games this year. The NAB Cup loss will still be fresh in the boys' minds, so you'd expect nothing less than a fired up Kangaroos outfit for this round eight affair.

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.