Retired #11: David Zaharakis - Survivin'

[Beerfish]

Contract Status: Unrestricted Free Agent 2021
Last Game Played: Round 19, 2021 (omit)
Injury Status: n/a

 

[Charliebrow 16]

I don’t think anyone is being unjustly critical of Zaharakis. Most people understand his limitations, his ceiling, and as long as he fulfils his role within the team like he has the past 2-3 weeks, I’m happy to keep seeing his name on the team sheet each Thursday.

Stating he was one of our least effective contributors isn’t that harsh.

 

[eth-dog]

I appreciate his career. He was a genuine good to very good player for a period of time there. However he's no longer in our best side.

 

[Nuggs Bunny]

Howlers aside, it's much better watching him off half-back/wing than that weird, pressure half forward role they tried him in at the start of last year.

 

[Schnitzengruben]

Obviously you can cherry pick stats to make him look invaluable or valuable to the team. If you actually watched the game, his performance was telling.

Burning teammates right in front of goal, calling for handballs when he has no business in doing so, the complete inability to kick a drop punt anymore.

I could go on but I'll leave it as this; he shouldn't be in the team anymore.

 

[Yoda_]

I appreciate his career. He was a genuine good to very good player for a period of time there. However he's no longer in our best side.

A 20 - 25 player on our list which, due to injuries sees him (barely) in the AFL side


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[The Donners]

Fair call; hadn’t seen the stats, but the lack of composure in key moments is concerning for a 200+ game player.

I’m not sure how many times in congestion he put foot to ball to keep us moving forward. I actually thought he had a decent game.

Having Ham in the team right now is basically starting with 21.5 players.

Edit: No doubt it’s his last season and the game has passed him by.

 

[Foxx]

I don't think too many players in this current team would have burnt Stringer like Zaca did. The side has progressed as a smarter side.
Tbh i don't think Shiel is any better in that regard.

 

[andleanback]

Rewatching the game, wow he mad a heap of critical errors. Even worse the mistakes were made in potential rebounding scoring chains.

 

[Tazdog]

Gets a game next week if he gets rid of whatever the * that hair is on his lid

 

[Duckworth]

Rewatching the game, wow he mad a heap of critical errors. Even worse the mistakes were made in potential rebounding scoring chains.

I saw teammates give him a bake a couple of times. He had quite a confused look on his face.

He has lost a bit of pace, and a lot of penetration on his kicking. Needs to adjust, as he doesn't have the tools he used to.

 

[Don35]

Stick with him and settle him down somewhere. Wouldn’t mind him running rest the year on opposite wing to Cox. Is a better option than others. Has had an under rated career. Put gaff in our team for last 10 years and he’d get similar criticism.

 

[westking]

Some of you are a sorry lot. We have a great win and yet we still want to hand out a drive by .

It’s disappointing you don’t know us well enough by now

 

[Lore]

Obviously you can cherry pick stats to make him look invaluable or valuable to the team. If you actually watched the game, his performance was telling.

Burning teammates right in front of goal, calling for handballs when he has no business in doing so, the complete inability to kick a drop punt anymore.

I could go on but I'll leave it as this; he shouldn't be in the team anymore.

Trying to be the cream when we need him to be the cake..?

 

[Summer Nights]

I don’t think there’s anything wrong in critiquing a player despite a great team win. Zaka wasn’t that bad last night but he did butcher a few too many opportunities to escape said criticism. Personally I found it a bit cringeworthy how one or two defended his mistakes in the match day thread but you’re always gonna get a few that (honourably) back a player under siege from a fan base, even if it is a bit of an over correction.

 

[mike14]

For the fancy stat needs (I dont know how many of them there really are), is there a 'wins above replacement' type stat for AFL?
Would be interesting how Zaha fares at this stage of his career

 

[Red Black and Blue]

Hopefully he can get a good run at it an work his way back up to good standard like Heppell has. I desperately want him, Hooker, Hurley and Heppell to play in a successful team and it is so disappointing to see them have flaws in their game they wouldn’t have if we hadn’t ****ed their careers so royally.

 

[BrunoV]

Obviously you can cherry pick stats to make him look invaluable or valuable to the team. If you actually watched the game, his performance was telling.

Burning teammates right in front of goal, calling for handballs when he has no business in doing so, the complete inability to kick a drop punt anymore.

I could go on but I'll leave it as this; he shouldn't be in the team anymore.

I tend to agree. He plays like an Essendon player from a different time. Looks out of place.

 

[Old Campaigner]

To my untrained eye he's playing like a guy who is feeling a bit insecure about his spot in the side and is trying to rack up stats to justify his place rather than do the team things.

 

[MiguelM]

His mind is on the pace but his body just can't execute like it used to.

For better or worse, I would rather we pump games into Ham.

 

[JT_the_Man]

I love the bloke, but he is past it. While there isn’t a large sample size his only good game has come against Norf, and if we are being honest their 22 is barely AFL standard at the moment. This plays into my next point which is that old saying “too good to be playing VFL, but not good enough for AFL.”

I’d expect this to be his last year. I’m really hoping he can turn back the clock and put in a few vintage performances before it’s all said and done, because I really did love him in his prime.

 

[RearNaked]

Is decent enough depth and a 18-22 player but needs to cut out the goal hungry bullshit calling for snelling to pass the ball and blazing away trying to kick a goal when stringer was all by himself that’s the type of s**t that has us not winning a final for over 15+ years

 

[fairbump_playon]

If you run past for the ball and get given it but sold into trouble, who's fault is that, the guy asking for it or the guy giving it?

Sometimes it's not whether you get it but how you get it. At this level a target missed by a few inches off can see someone tackled or rushed.

My issue with Zaharakis this year is that he just doesn't quite have his agility going. So he can't easily get out of trouble. That may improve with games, as it has for Heppell.

 

[BrunoV]

To my untrained eye he's playing like a guy who is feeling a bit insecure about his spot in the side and is trying to rack up stats to justify his place rather than do the team things.

It's also a reality that he has hardly played. Had an interrupted pre-season and has been a sub without playing much VFL.

I don't think he is a completely spent force as a forward. He should be a different player physically in the next few weeks as his conditioning improves.

I'd like to see him hold on as an elder statesman through a finals campaign, particularly one who can be converted into a self-less role player, but it is a bit hard to see at the moment.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

He should’ve been out of the team a long time ago because of his softness. We can’t have it.

I accept he’s injury cover. I can’t see any way he gets a contract next year.

 

[MarkJohnson#1]

To my untrained eye he's playing like a guy who is feeling a bit insecure about his spot in the side and is trying to rack up stats to justify his place rather than do the team things.

Unfortunately for Zaka it's a team sport and he is doing more harm than good playing this selfish role. I've lost count of the amount of times he has called for the ball when in a shocking position to do so purely to get a stat over the last few weeks. That and torching Stringer when open inside 50 and instead blazing away to kick a goal he is no longer capable of.

Ham must be given an opportunity this week, at least he plays a selfless team game.