Recommitted David Zaharakis [re-signed]

[Julia#13]

If he goes, he needs to go to a team where he'll be the third or fourth best midfielder and has able aupport. Building teams like saints or melbourne would be good options as they are building deep midfields. Bulldogs, Hawks, even Richmond now that that theyve got prestia, caddy, cotchin, martin to build around. At his best is a B+ midfielder capable of match winning performances. 800k is too much. Would say 650k is his value on the market right now

 

[Jade]

If he goes, he needs to go to a team where he'll be the third or fourth best midfielder and has able aupport. Building teams like saints or melbourne would be good options as they are building deep midfields. Bulldogs, Hawks, even Richmond now that that theyve got prestia, caddy, cotchin, martin to build around. At his best is a B+ midfielder capable of match winning performances. 800k is too much. Would say 650k is his value on the market right now

Hey?

Where do you think he is in Essendon's midfield?

I'd have to do the exercise, but my guess is he's probably the fifth or sixth starting midfielder at Essendon right now.

 

[Milanista28]

600-650 for 3 or 500-550 for 4 IMO.

Hope and think he sticks around.

 

[00Stinger]

Well you guys did offer Melksham over $400k.

Zaharakis is a better player than Jake - do you really think $600k is too much to offer him?

Daniel Wells just got that over 3 years (but I think all but Pies fans think that was a ludicrous deal to offer).

Your assessment of Zaka being in the top 10 players at most clubs without being and out and out star is pretty accurate IMO.

Going as a FA (which attracts a premium) I think round the $600k mark is about right; though I seriously doubt Essendon would offer, or match that.

I think you will find the majority of Melbourne supporters were extremely suprised to see us offer Melksham $400k a year, me included. I am not doubting that Zaka is a better player than Melksham, I totally agree with you.

I guess you ned to pay an extra 20-25% loading or an extra year or two to get players to move. The Wells offer offer 3 years is absolutely ludicrious and is going to bite Collingwood on the ass.

I still think $600k is too much to offer him (about $100 too much), but I get your point. Teams would probably need to offer that to him to get him out of Essendon.

If he could produce his best more often and cope better with a tag he could probably command $700k, but he can't and at his age I doubt he ever will.

 

[00Stinger]

Hey?

Where do you think he is in Essendon's midfield?

I'd have to do the exercise, but my guess is he's probably the fifth or sixth starting midfielder at Essendon right now.

Clearly behing Heppell and Merrett. Probably behind Watson. He would be in the next bunch of players somewhere between 4 and 6 wouldn't he?

 

[Jade]

I think you will find the majority of Melbourne supporters were extremely suprised to see us offer Melksham $400k a year, me included. I am not doubting that Zaka is a better player than Melksham, I totally agree with you.

I guess you ned to pay an extra 20-25% loading or an extra year or two to get players to move. The Wells offer offer 3 years is absolutely ludicrious and is going to bite Collingwood on the ass.

I still think $600k is too much to offer him (about $100 too much), but I get your point. Teams would probably need to offer that to him to get him out of Essendon.

If he could produce his best more often and cope better with a tag he could probably command $700k, but he can't and at his age I doubt he ever will.

I think we know what Zaka is as a player now.

He's never going to be a star midfielder; but by the same token he is (for the most part) a consistently good player who would be a lock in most (probably all) teams best 22.

I hope he stays; however if he does happen to get an offer like that would not begrudge him in the slightest.

 

[Milanista28]

Hey?

Where do you think he is in Essendon's midfield?

I'd have to do the exercise, but my guess is he's probably the fifth or sixth starting midfielder at Essendon right now.

Merrett, Jobe and Hep clear top 3, Reckon he's fighting with Parish, Hocking, Myers, Goddard and Stanton. Langers and Lav to jump into calcs as well.

 

[Jade]

Clearly behing Heppell and Merrett. Probably behind Watson. He would be in the next bunch of players somewhere between 4 and 6 wouldn't he?

Off the top of my head I'd have Heppell, Watson, Merrett as indisputably ahead.

From there you'd have Zaka in with Parish, Myers, Goddard, Stanton, Colyer, Hocking, Howlett - the order you'd put them in would be highly variable I'd assume based on what you deemed important.

 

[eth-dog]

Off the top of my head I'd have Heppell, Watson, Merrett as indisputably ahead.

From there you'd have Zaka in with Parish, Myers, Goddard, Stanton, Colyer, Hocking, Howlett - the order you'd put them in would be highly variable I'd assume based on what you deemed important.

I'd have him ahead of all of those personally. Definitely ahead of the last four.

 

[Jade]

I'd have him ahead of all of those personally. Definitely ahead of the last four.

Geez Hocking is a seriously underrated footballer.

And people forget so quickly about Colyer...

 

[eth-dog]

Geez Hocking is a seriously underrated footballer.

And people forget so quickly about Colyer...

Not denying those two are good. Just think he's definitively better.

I'd have no qualms in paying Zaka 600k a year. I'd hesitate to pay those two more than 450k.

 

[Jade]

Not denying those two are good. Just think he's definitively better.

I'd have no qualms in paying Zaka 600k a year. I'd hesitate to pay those two more than 450k.

If I was a betting man, I'd say the chances of Essendon offering Zaharakis $600k are non-existent.

 

[Wild Bill]

Well fre agency will invite stupid offers to the table. Around the $500k mark for him imo. A good player who will be a top 10 player at every club, but not a star

Really?

Coniglio, Scully, Kelly, Shaw, Sheil, Ward, Green, Deledio, Cameron, Mumford
Bont, Morris, Wood, Libba, Dahl, JJ, Boyd, Macrae, Murphy, Stringer
Buddy, Hannebery, Kennedy, Parker, Rampe, Grundy, Smith, Jack, McVeigh, Tippett
Sloane, Walker, Talia, Betts, Jacobs, Laird, Crouch, Jenkins, Thompson, Lynch
Roughead, Mitchell, Gibson, Burgoyne, Gunston, Smith, Hodge, Breust, Rioli, Frawley

 

[eth-dog]

If I was a betting man, I'd say the chances of Essendon offering Zaharakis $600k are non-existent.

I would prefer paying him around 500k but if push comes to shove I'd have no issue increasing it to that.

 

[Jade]

Really?

Coniglio, Scully, Kelly, Shaw, Sheil, Ward, Green, Deledio, Cameron, Mumford
Bont, Morris, Wood, Libba, Dahl, JJ, Boyd, Macrae, Murphy, Stringer
Buddy, Hannebery, Kennedy, Parker, Rampe, Grundy, Smith, Jack, McVeigh, Tippett
Sloane, Walker, Talia, Betts, Jacobs, Laird, Crouch, Jenkins, Thompson, Lynch
Roughead, Mitchell, Gibson, Burgoyne, Gunston, Smith, Hodge, Breust, Rioli, Frawley

GWS I'd grant you - * that's an impressive list.

For the others he'd be in the bottom edge of the top 10 if at all.

But you're absolutely having a laff with Isaac Smith.

 

[adammania9]

I think you will find the majority of Melbourne supporters were extremely suprised to see us offer Melksham $400k a year, me included. I am not doubting that Zaka is a better player than Melksham, I totally agree with you.

I guess you ned to pay an extra 20-25% loading or an extra year or two to get players to move. The Wells offer offer 3 years is absolutely ludicrious and is going to bite Collingwood on the ass.

I still think $600k is too much to offer him (about $100 too much), but I get your point. Teams would probably need to offer that to him to get him out of Essendon.

If he could produce his best more often and cope better with a tag he could probably command $700k, but he can't and at his age I doubt he ever will.

The Wells deal won't kill us as it was front ended, the Mayne deal likely will though.

 

[Jade]

The Wells deal won't kill us as it was front ended, the Mayne deal likely will though.

The CBA increases will likely save you too many blushes, but yeah, some serious overs there.

 

[00Stinger]

The Wells deal won't kill us as it was front ended, the Mayne deal likely will though.

Both seem like panic purchases

 

[Wild Bill]

Both seem like panic purchases

Must play finals to survive purchases.

 

[JG22]

If he goes, he needs to go to a team where he'll be the third or fourth best midfielder and has able aupport. Building teams like saints or melbourne would be good options as they are building deep midfields. Bulldogs, Hawks, even Richmond now that that theyve got prestia, caddy, cotchin, martin to build around. At his best is a B+ midfielder capable of match winning performances. 800k is too much. Would say 650k is his value on the market right now

Very true, gets completely shutdown when anyone goes near him.

 

[Julia#13]

Hey?

Where do you think he is in Essendon's midfield?

I'd have to do the exercise, but my guess is he's probably the fifth or sixth starting midfielder at Essendon right now.

I would say definitely behind heppell and merrett. Depending on where Watson plays 60% forward 40% or vice versa he might be third or fourth but teams have shown in the past they would rather tag Zaka than anybody else on your team because he has a real ability to change games and influence results and is probably easier to tag than a heppell or watson type. He needs to go somewhere where he wont be tagged or more need to step up in essendons midfield so he can just be free to do what he does well which may happen this year.

 

[Damon_3388]

Started last year like a house on fire, averaging 32 disposals and 6 inside 50s a game across the first month of the season. I thought with the extra midfield time and responsibility, he was finally going to make the jump into the elite bracket that people have been expecting of him for a while. Literally looked like he ran out of puff and was pretty putrid for most of the second half of the year though, before finishing the last few rounds strong.

Doesn't really seem to have improved a great deal over the last 5 years, and still at time seems like a 22 year old, 3rd/4th year player, instead of a guy who is now 27 years old and going into his 9th AFL season. Kind of like Brent Stanton (I know they're different sort of players), he's gotten to a level of "pretty good, but not great" a couple of years into his career, and then seemingly plateaued there for ages. One of those guys that's probably more valued and appreciated in the environment they're in ("within these four walls", to use a cringe-worthy cliche), rather than sought after by other clubs.

Would take a massive uptick in form and consistency (basically maintaining his early season form from last year across an entire season) to really be worthy of offers in the 800K range, and even then I'd be weary of him being a 'Contract Year Phenomenon' and regressing in 2018.

 

[Nuggs Bunny]

To be pragmatic and completely honest, if he wanted to explore his opportunities it wouldn't be the end of the world for us... We've got a lot of good young players coming through who are and will be pushing hard for a spot in the near future, Zaharakis will be one of the ones under that pressure. He's not an elite player, he doesn't carry the team and he's not really that young anymore so if he wants to go, he wants to go. Probably worth second round compensation and we can take it straight to the draft, where we've really shone in the last four years IMO.

But all that being said, I love the bloke and really hope he stays on. Football is more than just stats and numbers at the end of the day.

 

[Ambrosia]

Started last year like a house on fire, averaging 32 disposals and 6 inside 50s a game across the first month of the season. I thought with the extra midfield time and responsibility, he was finally going to make the jump into the elite bracket that people have been expecting of him for a while. Literally looked like he ran out of puff and was pretty putrid for most of the second half of the year though, before finishing the last few rounds strong.

Doesn't really seem to have improved a great deal over the last 5 years, and still at time seems like a 22 year old, 3rd/4th year player, instead of a guy who is now 27 years old and going into his 9th AFL season. Kind of like Brent Stanton (I know they're different sort of players), he's gotten to a level of "pretty good, but not great" a couple of years into his career, and then seemingly plateaued there for ages. One of those guys that's probably more valued and appreciated in the environment they're in ("within these four walls", to use a cringe-worthy cliche), rather than sought after by other clubs.

Would take a massive uptick in form and consistency (basically maintaining his early season form from last year across an entire season) to really be worthy of offers in the 800K range, and even then I'd be weary of him being a 'Contract Year Phenomenon' and regressing in 2018.

Agree with this just to expand Zaharakis biggest issue is he can't win his own footy when the opponent pays attention to him. When allowed to run free he can rip sides apart but as soon as the opposition sits a player on him he doesn't have the tools to win the ball inside which is the only consistent way to beat a tag.

 

[Moist Biscuit]

Well fre agency will invite stupid offers to the table. Around the $500k mark for him imo. A good player who will be a top 10 player at every club, but not a star

Hmm I rate him but I disagree with you on that, I think there are 4 or 5 teams with at least 10 players better than him.