JAKE Melksham is fast developing a reputation for being able to deliver under pressure, but last Friday afternoon the emerging Essendon midfielder admits he might have fallen a bit short.

Melksham's an Essendon local, he still lives close to Windy Hill with his family, and was recruited from Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School.

Last week, with Bombers teammate David Zaharakis, he watched his old school team play Marcellin College, where Zaharakis graduated in 2008.

At half-time PEGS coach and former Bomber Ken Fletcher (father of Dustin) called Melksham over to give his team a rev-up. Melksham was surprised.

He gathered some thoughts and spoke about his time at the school and then, when he couldn't think of anything else, brought Zaharakis into the conversation.

"I said 'I'm over here with 'Zacka' and he reckons his boys have got your measure'," Melksham recalls with a laugh.

PEGS gave up their two-goal lead at the main break and let their rivals run away with the win, leaving Melksham's coaching credentials shaky.

"I said after that my speech must have been no good," he says. At least his footy, and the Bombers, are going well.

Melksham has seen a lot of change at Essendon since he walked in the doors at the end of 2009 as a first-round pick. He has a new coach, a number of new teammates, and a new approach, and, this time next year, will be based at the club's Melbourne Airport base.

"Even my Dad, who's an Essendon supporter, says how much it has changed," Melksham says.

But Melksham, too, is a player in a constant state of flux, as he strives to become a more complete, damaging and consistent midfielder for the Bombers. The signs this year is that he is certainly on the way.

Making it easier has been the fact Melksham has had a good run at it. The 20-year-old has played 34 games in a row and, with every one, starts to feel more acclimatised to the demands of elite football.

He says his start to this year was slow, but he did get going against the Brisbane Lions and West Coast with back-to-back impressive efforts. He admits that his 14-possession game in Essendon's win over Richmond was "nowhere near my best."

But his experience over his three seasons has taught him not to dwell on it.

"I didn't play too well but I've still got confidence that all the hard work I did over the pre-season will hold me in good stead," he says.

"I know what I'm capable of and I know what I can do. But, in saying that, I'm glad we won because the weekend would have been a lot worse for me if we didn't."

Melksham is a footballer made up of many bits and pieces.

He's hard and strong and prides himself on winning the ball when it's up for grabs, but he also enjoys space, and often sets up Essendon's play from the wing.

He's a good overhead mark, and has a mean streak, but it is the development of his disposal that might be most impressive.

"I try every week to take risks with the footy," he says.

"As a junior I was a good kick and I think in my first couple of years at the club at training I was good and then in games, under pressure, I was a little bit shaky and it would have shown with statistics that I wasn't a great kick.

"But now that I'm playing more games and becoming used to it, my foot skills are starting to come through."

So too is Melksham's ambition. Just as his four-year-old brother Coby laps up being a sibling of an AFL player - Coby is seen regularly in the rooms after games inviting Jake's teammates over for dinner - Melksham is also enjoying playing and living in the moment.

He is an important part of Essendon's midfield, and will remain so in the future. Occasionally it dawns on him how quickly his three years in the game has gone, and at others he thinks about all the time, and opportunities, he has left.

"I've got five games to go until I play my 50th, and it's like 'Where did that come from?'" he says.

"Times that by four and you've got 200 and then you start to think 'If I get to that 200 my career's going to go so quickly.'

"It does feel like I've been here a little while but at the same time you think you're only 20 and have a long way to go."

Callum Twomey is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter at @AFL_CalTwomey.