Fans know rookie Essendon forward Joe Daniher is something special

IF you didn't follow footy and were leaving work last night you would have sworn the most popular name in Melbourne was Joe.

Daniher

IF you didn't follow footy and were leaving work last night you would have sworn the most popular name in Melbourne was Joe.

At Federation Square, on the trams that rattled along Flinders St and around the MCG it was virtually the only name spoken.

"Joe this", "Joe that".

We had moved beyond the need for surnames.

Jake stands tall against Blues

Joe Daniher was about to make the most-hyped debut in recent memory, and he'd be doing it in front of 82,000 fans against bitter rival Carlton wearing the No.6 donned by his father Anthony.

Seemingly no one was immune to catching Daniher fever.

Even teammate Alex Browne couldn't help himself, tweeting before the opening bounce: "Joey Daniher will kick 10, take 15 marks and have 30 touches ... in the first quarter".

Garry Lyon said on Triple M: "He will be a multiple goalscorer tonight. He has the ability ... "

Essendon had done its best, talking down expectations at every opportunity and keeping the kid in the VFL, but Daniher's stream of goals and glut of marks made any bid to numb the excitement impossible.

As it was, the debut was never going to match the build-up, but no one would have left the MCG last night any less excited about the 201cm ruck-forward prodigy.

Daniher

Daniher finished with 15 disposals and five marks in a highly promising first game that lacked only a goal.

Bombers coach James Hird, perhaps aware of some bubbling nerves in the minutes before the game, spent a lot of time with Daniher in the warm-up.

Daniher said: "It (debut) was the toughest thing I've had to do in my football career ... I'm just looking forward to the next few years at the football club.

"The boys moved really well through the middle of the ground and that helped us up forward ... sometimes it doesn't go your way; I'll keep chipping away and hopefully get there."

But you get the feeling Daniher isn't a shrinking violet.

He wasn't scared to issue instructions to Michael Hurley in the first term or demand the ball on the lead.

Hird's ploy shifts momentum
There were several "nearly" moments, too - after exchanging handballs with Jake Melksham he took two bounces along the boundary line but his shot at goal faded.

Then there were the two last-quarter shots at goal that missed to either side, but none of that mattered.

He had finally played and he had played well.