Retired #11: David Zaharakis - Survivin'

[Beerfish]

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

 

[blitzer]

I've been delighted with Zaka's turn around in form. Round 8 onwards has been the most consistent and quality performances he's ever been able to string together in a row in my opinion. I can't really see the situation where he won't be our 3rd, 4th, 5th best midfielder during the next 4 years. Right now he's probably 3rd behind only Merrett and Heppell. We definitely couldn't afford to lose him.

In addition he's a true Essendon man through and through. Love that he will essentially play out his career at the Bombers or close to it.

 

[bacon buster]

It is simply not possible to attribute any blame for our results over the period 2013-7 to list management.
If results don't improve in this 4 year period however, I think we would be looking at list management amongst other things.

i think questions around player development are probably more pertinent

 

[84859300]

He's a restricted free agent. If you don't offer him 4 years he's not staying. Clearly the club wanted to keep him.

I'm very surprised we went with 4 years.

Not being Z's biggest fan, I have bias in questioning if this is best for us in the long run... but as explained by others, lower dollars could indeed be a defining factor.

That said, I wonder what compensation (if any) we would have been afforded if Z had decided to test the RFA market? If we're offering 4 year deals, the club obviously sees David as vital for the make up in our best 22. Would the other 17 clubs (and more importantly, the AFL) seen it the same way where we would have been returned a compensation pick accordingly, as they don't hand these out willy nilly. If we needed to trade a pick and a player to secure an elite recruit - would Z be that player to get the job done?

Finally, with talent like Begley, Mutch, Redman, Francis in the seconds and offering 4 years, are the club saying that thy don't think that one of these guys isn't capable of replacing Z in the same role within 4 years? If his current form keeps up over the journey, of which the potential has always niggled away in the back ground, I'll gladly eat humble pie.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Zaka has been playing elite football since round 8. If it was two years he walks because 2 yrs for a well performed 27 yo is not enough. So it's 3 or 4 years. Are we going to haggle over one year for a guy playing A level for the last 3-4 months? Plus as others have said extra year slightly less pay.

Other teams have offered 4 years for players like Crameri and Melksham ffs!....Chris Mayne!!!

This was a no brainer, good deal for both sides.

 

[resurrector]

Zaka has been playing elite football since round 8. If it was two years he walks because 2 yrs for a well performed 27 yo is not enough. So it's 3 or 4 years. Are we going to haggle over one year for a guy playing A level for the last 3-4 months? Plus as others have said extra year slightly less pay.

Other teams have offered 4 years for players like Crameri and Melksham ffs!....Chris Mayne!!!

This was a no brainer, good deal for both sides.

well said... those saying he could potentially hold a youngsters development back need to check themselves. still got plenty of good footy left in him and is by no means a one dimensional player. could easily see him heading forward or playing on a wing as a link man.

 

[hurlygurdy]

I'm surprised everyone is so cool with this. Low dollars certainly would go a long way to explaining the deal because this is a player who historically has gone missing periodically. I'm loving the way he is playing now and i'm tentatively hopeful that something has "clicked" for him, but four years certainly doesn't describe "tentatively hopeful"! If he completely loses form again next year then this thread is going to turn on its head.

 

[mayhem20202]

C HOOKer

Wow


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Zach Package]

Zaharakis is a really good B Grade player.
Not sure you give a four year contract but Lore is quite right unless you know how much he is being paid it is impossible to ascertain how good the deal is for either side.

3 made more sense to me too but it's the new lay of the land, comparable players at his age are getting almost exclusively getting 4 and 5 year deals when they come out of contract.

Haven't seen a dollar figure floated either, if it was a case of 'you tack on an extra year and we'll give our asking price a bit of a haircut' then that's fine by me.

 

[Summer Nights]

Not a fan of the length of the deal as I don't believe it's the best thing to motivate him. IMO a shorter deal would've been for the best.

In any case I'm happy for him as a person and hope he has a rewarding career from here. Obviously would love him to be part of our next premiership if he maintains his tough footy.

 

[Killer_Mike]

Zaka a guest pannelist on Future Stars.

 

[VelvetSledge]

Zaka a guest pannelist on Future Stars.

Speaks well, aside from the occasional "aaah" and "uuuum"

 

[Killer_Mike]

Speaks well, aside from the occasional "aaah" and "uuuum"

Yeah, both he and McGrath are profesionals. Andy in particular is all class.

 

[MiguelM]

Started slow but has had a great year.

Now go and sign McKenna for 4.

 

[RedmanWasHere]

It's clear that Zaka's angling for a media stint after he retires in hopefully 10+ years.

 

[Vindicater]

So glad to see he will be a bomber for life!

 

[Laverde2Smack]

My source was spot on again.

Sent from my F3115 using Tapatalk

 

[Yoda_]

Easy to forget just how good his year was. Averaged career best numbers in disposals (25.6), tackles (4.7), inside 50's (4.7) and rebound 50's (2.1).

Easily complimented the bigger inside mids we had this year.

 

[Kakkle]

Easy to forget just how good his year was. Averaged career best numbers in disposals (25.6), tackles (4.7), inside 50's (4.7) and rebound 50's (2.1).

Easily complimented the bigger inside mids we had this year.

Maybe if you were to mark his year on the last 15 or so games. He was poor in the first 7 games, which isn't something you want to see from someone who has been around for as long as he has.

 

[Pweter]

Maybe if you were to mark his year on the last 15 or so games. He was poor in the first 7 games, which isn't something you want to see from someone who has been around for as long as he has.

But when he turned it around he was consistently good for the rest of the season, it was a complete form reversal rather than have a couple of good games then coast along again.

Glass half full.

 

[Kakkle]

But when he turned it around he was consistently good for the rest of the season, it was a complete form reversal rather than have a couple of good games then coast along again.

Glass half full.

Absolutely, when he turned it around he was just about our best midfielder. But my point is more along the lines of he really shouldn't have been in that position to begin with.

 

[fishardansin]

I don't think it was 7 poor games. However, I remember calling for his head after 3 or 4. He was our best mid in many ways after tha.

 

[yaco55]

He was poor for the first 5 games - Thank BJ who changed his role to help Zaka.

 

[Towno78]

Maybe if you were to mark his year on the last 15 or so games. He was poor in the first 7 games, which isn't something you want to see from someone who has been around for as long as he has.

FFS he had a great year, whether you count the first half dozen or not. Easily his best.
Is it really so hard to celebrate some genuinely good performances, whilst still wanting more for next year?

 

[Kakkle]

FFS he had a great year, whether you count the first half dozen or not. Easily his best.
Is it really so hard to celebrate some genuinely good performances, whilst still wanting more for next year?

Once again, I'm not disputing that, what I'm saying is, for someone as experienced as him it shouldn't take him as long as it did to reach that level of consistency.

 

[astrowizzle]

So ya think it took a while for him to find his role in a team Which way played like 0 games together. Good on him for Persisting and I will be surprised if he isn't one of our best again this year. Has class and in the last few seasons has learned to find his own pill. Love him.