The ruckman was happy to get back into some good form after an up and down beginning to the year.
"I started really slowly and missed the first game through gastro," Mabon told NMFC.com.au.
"I was shattered about that, I was looking forward to playing against Collingwood.
"Mum actually texted me saying she had just got to the ground (Victoria Park) and then I replied saying, ‘I'm going home, I've just pulled out sick’. So it was a five hour drive for my parents, down the drain.
"Then I got suspended against Casey and I wasn't happy with my game that day.
"So even though my game against Essendon was my best of the year, I've still got a long way to go."
Along with his 20 disposals and 35 hit-outs, perhaps the most promising sign from Mabon was his level of comfort playing a kick behind the play against the Bombers.
Despite extremely windy conditions, Mabon acquitted himself well in the defensive half despite it being a role he hasn't played much.
Development coach Josh Drummond was pleased with his marking - the ruckman took eight for the afternoon, a tally which was the equal highest across both teams for the afternoon.
"I enjoyed playing the role. The defence helped me out a lot, Luke Delaney made sure I was in the right spots all the time.
"I was pretty confident, flew for my marks and everything went pretty well back there.
Combined with his time spent in the forward line during the pre-season, Mabon is constantly developing his game. It’s something that he says is important with the way football is heading.
"I've got to learn to go forward as well because you can't play just ruck anymore. With Goldy (Todd Goldstein), Majak (Daw), (Daniel) Currie all in the mix, it's hard to make your way into the senior side but if my opportunity comes I'll be glad to take it."
The off-season acquisition of Currie has given Mabon a fresh face to battle against on the training track. While Currie is also yet to play a senior game, he and Mabon are at different stages of their development and with that in mind, the younger Roo enjoys the competition.
"It's good to compete against Currie at training. We help each other out at training against each other. You can pick things up from him but it's more the competition aspect."
Another pre-season has improved Mabon’s ability to finish games strongly and he recognises the significance of it.
"The fact that I can run games out now is important. It's the way the game is going now that you need to be able to shoulder most of the load.”
