DAVID Cuningham produced the best performance of his young career against Essendon on Saturday night.

Having played the majority of his time in the forward line, the 23-year-old produced an inspired performance in the midfield, finishing with 28 disposals, 10 contested possessions and a game-high seven score involvements.

Not initially supposed to spend so much time in the middle, Cuningham took up the challenge after Jack Silvagni was injured early on in the game.

“My role sort of changed from being predominantly forward to going inside a bit more, because we were down Jack Silvagni early in the game,” Cuningham said following the game.

“I roamed through the midfield and obviously had a bit more influence on the game than previously.

“I was happy with that, and obviously happy with the win and our performance.”

Cuningham’s speed and class through the midfield caused problems for the Bombers throughout the game, as he propelled the Blues inside 50 on six occasions.

Having spent a considerable portion of 2019 on the sideline with a niggling injury, Cuningham has played all four games to start the season, relishing under the leadership of Senior Coach David Teague.

Drafted in 2015 alongside fellow teammates Jacob Weitering, Harry McKay, Charlie Curnow and Jack Silvagni, Cuningham believes that the Blues are starting to see the benefits of the development of these players, speaking about the impact that they will continue to have for years to come.

“When I first came to the Club we had a lot of young players who just got drafted,” he said.

“Now we’re seeing the development from those players and especially the guys who came in with me.

“Those boys are really starting to make their mark on the game. That’ll only continue to develop going forward.”

While the Blues were missing the tall timbers of Harry McKay and Charlie Curnow, they were able to continually find Levi Casboult and Mitch McGovern — the pair combined for five goals and six marks inside 50.

In particular, Casboult has captured the attention of the wider AFL community, with his much improved kicking for goal now perfectly complementing his strong marking ability.

“Levi has shown in the first few rounds that he’s the best contested mark in the competition,” he said.

“When you’ve got him down there, you just put it in his area to his advantage and he’ll more often than not clunk it.”