Player Watch #11: David Zaharakis - Deep cut to his knee, infected, may miss Good Friday - 16/4

adsla69k

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Posted in the autopsy thread

Stick him inside and tell him to get the ball and tackle when he doesn't have it.
Need to instil physical & contested side to his game. Make it his primary objective (we have enough runners) and give him a month or so to develop it.

Could be good running with Selwood, Mitchell, Martin & Coniglio the next month and embrace the contact.
He was on Neale in the first. Wasnt close enough and cougt him ball watching.
 

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citizen-erased

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He was on Neale in the first. Wasnt close enough and cougt him ball watching.
By no means am i suggesting he is/has been good at it.
But we need to do something with him as he is giving us nothing at the moment.

KPI should be tackles and pressure acts.
Then build to clearances
Then inside 50s

Just get him to work on that for the year if he's going to stay in. Instead of waiting for him to have a good game so you can say "told ya so"
 

JayJ20

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I've honestly been for keeping him all of these years, but off to the 2s. Seriously over his half-hearted attempts. Don't bring him back until he gives a crap. Doesn't look like he even cares.

He has shown us what he can do by winning a B&F so we know that it is to do with effort.
 

JayJ20

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Interesting article. I don't think that it is solely the returning players though. Hurley is playing much better now than what he was at the start of the year. Same with Hooker.

Our midfielders tend to drop off. Guys like Parish, Heppell, Watson, Colyer, Zaharakis and Stanton go missing for a period of time. We can't keep up if these players collectively go missing. I think we'll be much better off in the second half of the year so I don't see this year as a write off.

Regarding Zaharakis, I don't know if Bomber's suggestion to play him "forward midfield" instead of "midfield forward" will work all that much either. He wouldn't provide much forward pressure to lock the ball in if he plays the way that he currently plays, which doesn't fix his problem. Instead of a player running past him in the midfield, they will run past him to rebound. Plenty of goal kicking options. The comparison to Gray is not realistic unless he becomes capable of playing at that level consistently, which he hasn't. I don't think a simple move will fix his problems.
 

bombreys

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He just needs to be dropped.

He's been given probably a few extra games to turn things around than he's deserved (based on form), which to an extent is understandable because of what he's meant to us the past few years, but we can't just keep persisting with his current output.

The club should always come before the player.

Give him a run in the VFL for 2-3 weeks, if he earns his way back in, then great - bring him back in.
 

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eth-dog

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Analyze that b&f a little closer, not very impressive


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As a 21 year old half forward/outside mid he:

1. Kicked a goal in 19/23 games
2. Kicked multiple goals in 8 games
3. Averaged 20 and 1.5.

In only 2 of his games would you say he "failed" (>20 possessions with no goals). Whilst it wasn't outstanding like Merrett's 21 year old season it was pretty damn impressive.
 

Eleven 38

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I feel like he's gone back into his shell with Heppell and Watson back.

He needs to realise he's a senior player with or without those guys in the team.

It's like he's waiting for Watson, Stanton, Hocking to retire before putting in consistent quality games/seasons together.

Before he knows it he'll be 32 and retiring before he meets his potential.
 

blitzer

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As a 21 year old half forward/outside mid he:

1. Kicked a goal in 19/23 games
2. Kicked multiple goals in 8 games
3. Averaged 20 and 1.5.

In only 2 of his games would you say he "failed" (>20 possessions with no goals). Whilst it wasn't outstanding like Merrett's 21 year old season it was pretty damn impressive.
It was a great year from a young Zaharakis (3rd year) but it was also a weak year for our b&f. I remember thinking that Heppell was a dark horse to win the whole thing that year and many others thought so too (he ended up finishing 7th but the points were relatively close) . That was Heppell's first year. Stanton was his normal consistent self but not really the sort of guy who was in any AA conversations. Hurley was young and trying to work things out as a forward. Watson missed half the season - although started on fire for the first 11 games.

I guess the question is why was Zaharakis a better player back then than he is now. I swear I never see him do anything in the air these days but back when he started he was a good mark for his size. Completely gone now. I'm not sure if he's lost a yard of pace but he seems slower too.

2011 Crichton Top 10:
David Zaharakis 332
Brent Stanton 313
Michael Hurley 292
Jobe Watson 270
Heath Hocking 248
Dustin Fletcher 231
Dyson Heppell 226
Stewart Crameri 225
Patrick Ryder 224
Ben Howlett 216
 
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As a 21 year old half forward/outside mid he:

1. Kicked a goal in 19/23 games
2. Kicked multiple goals in 8 games
3. Averaged 20 and 1.5.

In only 2 of his games would you say he "failed" (>20 possessions with no goals). Whilst it wasn't outstanding like Merrett's 21 year old season it was pretty damn impressive.
Leaderboard was:
-1st, Zaka, played every game, stats listed above, stats in themselves are good, not great
-2nd, Stanton, missed 2 games. Based on average votes per game, would have won if he played the same amount of games as Zaka.
-3rd, Hurley, 21 kpp, playing 'out of position' in the forward line, missed 5 games. Again, based on average votes per game, would have won if played the same amount of games as Zaka.
-4th, Watson, missed 6 games. You guessed it, on votes per game, would have polled more votes than Zaka if played the same amount of games. Would have been the 3rd of 4 b&fs in a row if not for injury.
- 5th, hocking, missed 6 games, if played the same..... you know the drill.

Not trying to take away from a 21 year old winning a b&f, but let's be honest, it was a bit of a perfect storm of circumstances that rewarded a guy who played consistent footy and didn't miss a game, rather than an outstanding year.

It's hard to compare numbers of votes from year to year, as the number of 'voters' have changed, but again, votes per voter per game, is one of the lowest to win in the last 10 years (I can't be bothered looking back any further than that)


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