That is four 30+ possession games from Zaharakis and it ain't even the half way point of the season. It seems I set the bar a bit too low wanting 5 for the year from the man.
I just love the way he goes about his footy. He has all of the outside flair a player can have but he is not out of his depth scrapping for the ball and laying tackles. He seems to be everywhere which suggests that he is running really hard. The ability to win contested possession and run hard holds him in really good stead for when the inevitable tag comes
I wonder how long it will be until he starts getting more attention from opposition clubs.
With all of the coveting of other clubs' young players that has occurred over the last few years, now, as they all start to reach a reasonable level of experience and maturity with 50 games or so, is a really good time to compare him with the other quality mids/smalls taken out of the 2008 draft.
You will very quickly see that Zaharakis' numbers stack up against the lot. Where he might be 1 to 1.5 average possessions a game behind the likes of Shuey and Hannebery he has 20 more goals than Shuey (Hannebery is not a goal kicker). Sidebottom and Beams are statistically quite brilliant but they've had the advantage of being part of a powerhouse.
The thing with Zaka is that he has had consistent and considerable improvement from year to year so he has been largely ignored by the media. He did not make the immediate and dramatic impact of a Rich or Hannebery and win a rising star; and did not have the advantage Beams and Sidebottom have had of being part of a great side that has routinely beaten up **** sides like Essendon in his first 3 years.
The point is that 3 years and 10 rounds into their careers, I might have to very reluctantly concede Sidebottom aside, we got a guy that is easily as good as every other mid/small taken in a very solid draft and is very arguably better than the lot (seriously I'd take his 20 to 30 extra goals over those with marginally better average possession stats). I'm thinking that this is a more useful tool for assessing his worth than the comparison with Murphy because the latter seems a little misunderstood.
Just to add a little fluff I'd say it is not bad for a guy taken at #23; and considering that we took a pretty special player with pick 5 that year we did pretty darn well.
03. Stephen Hill http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/pc-fremantle-dockers--stephen-hill
04. Hamish Hartlett http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/pc-port-adelaide-power--hamish-hartlett
06. Chris Yarran http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/pc-carlton-blues--christopher-yarran
07. Daniel Rich http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/pc-brisbane-lions--daniel-rich
10. Steele Sidebottom http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/pc-collingwood-magpies--steele-sidebottom
18. Luke Shuey http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/pc-west-coast-eagles--luke-shuey
23. David Zaharakis http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/pc-essendon-bombers--david-zaharakis
29. Dayne Beams http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/pc-collingwood-magpies--dayne-beams
30. Daniel Hannebery http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/pc-sydney-swans--daniel-hannebery
44. Rory Sloane http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/pc-adelaide-crows--rory-sloane
*Yes, possessions aren't the be all and end all but it is one of the few objective points of comparison available.
Edit: Sloane added, pleasingly it changes nothing.