Parish has overtaken him in total contested possessions for the year. Indictment on Zaka and absolute praise for Parish.
True, but you’re not really telling the whole story. Parish is ahead of Zaka, Kelly, Goddard and Cooney for average contested possessions. Darcy is showing up a number of senior bigger bodied players in this department, not just Zaka.
I hope he finishes the year how he started.
I can't wait till teams try to tag him next year. Heppell and Zerrett will get off the chain so bad teams won't know what to do. Once the switch occurs watch this bloke carve through zones with Pace and precision ball use. He is a very good outside midfielder, unfortunately he struggles when he has to win it himself and can't break away. It's not a bad thing, not everybody can be a Zerrett.Just out of curiosity, does any other team have a player who plays the “tag me completely out of the game so we play with 21 players but the other mids will play well” role?
Carlton used to do it with Murphy until Cripps got too good.
Except for when he plays Essington
does growing a pair count as a niggle?
It would explain a lot.
Soft as they come, needs to harden up.
Through him in a bp, sheedy style, see if he’s injured or just soft
If we want to persevere with Zaharakis we need to realign our expectations. He is not and will not become the player we all hoped and expected. However in a strong midfield with less attention he will be a good contributer. After starting wonderfully this year playing a more inside role as well (which was really exciting) other teams have put more work into him and he has basically been blanketed. However next year it’s unlikely he will get the same attention as he is likely to be our 4/5/6th best midfielder.
Yes it’s disappointing, yes we all want him to work harder and get more ball. However it is what it is, either trade him, use him differently or understand this is a significant flaw in his game. Brent Stanton suffers from the same dilemma, a good player who has offered a poor midfield so much over the last 10 years but can’t break a tag.
Surely he's carrying some sort of niggle. His drop off in form is just too bad to explain otherwise.
Almost certainly IMO. He was cracking in and winning hard balls and clearances for the first 12 rounds.
Reminds me of when Stanton had that fracture in his back
Playing well “see I told you guys”
Playing poorly “must be injured”
Surely he's carrying some sort of niggle. His drop off in form is just too bad to explain otherwise.Almost certainly IMO. He was cracking in and winning hard balls and clearances for the first 12 rounds.
Reminds me of when Stanton had that fracture in his back
Yeah I remember that. No one was giving Stanton any leeway. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
Yet for some reason we’re going with Zaka being injured. He’s not injured he’s just very, very, very down. May as well be wearing a gimp suit when he lines up. Total submissive.
Surely he's carrying some sort of niggle. His drop off in form is just too bad to explain otherwise.The zaka virus
Just has no intensity around the contest at the moment. Just look at how tenacious zerret is by comparison, throwing himself at the ball, throwing himself into a tackle, desperate attempt to smother. Zerret has 3 or 4 efforts in every contest.
Zaka is just skirting the packs at the moment. Doesn’t look like he is enjoying his footy to me.
"You can't just run away from a tag … you've got to try and lose them in a contest.“Probably working back into your back 50 harder than your tagger is one you can get away with, you can get a few kicks in defensive half going forward and that kind of thing.”
That quote from Zaka annoys me. Shouldnt be looking to get cheapies across the HBF to boost stats.
IMHO, he should be thinking about working harder running forward of centre (where he’s at his best) and/or around the contest.
Playing well "see I told you guys"Playing poorly “must be injured”
I think most are hoping he’s injured.
I know I am, because if he’s fully fit atm… Sheesh!
Playing well "see I told you guys"Playing poorly “must be injured”
I can’t wait until he gets like 26 posssesions against some pleb team where he has no influence, and all these people will trot out the “told you so”.
As a slight defence to Zaha, it ain’t like we have a very experienced midfield to help him break the tag, we shouldnt underestimate the difference a guy like Hocking can make in situations like this.
Even when a Selwood or Danger gets tagged you will see the whole midfield help out with blocks etc.
Zaha gets none of this, not that it totally excuses his effort etc but it makes a big difference
As a slight defence to Zaha, it ain't like we have a very experienced midfield to help him break the tag, we shouldnt underestimate the difference a guy like Hocking can make in situations like this.Even when a Selwood or Danger gets tagged you will see the whole midfield help out with blocks etc.
Zaha gets none of this, not that it totally excuses his effort etc but it makes a big difference
Yeah that’s because he is nowhere near the play.
needing a more experienced midfield around you to make you an effective player is not a defence, its an indictment.
Just has no intensity around the contest at the moment. Just look at how tenacious zerret is by comparison, throwing himself at the ball, throwing himself into a tackle, desperate attempt to smother. Zerret has 3 or 4 efforts in every contest.Zaka is just skirting the packs at the moment. Doesn’t look like he is enjoying his footy to me.
I think the opposition has caught onto how little effort he puts in to get to the contest when there is someone accountable for him at that contest
Like he’ll be going into a contest at a half ■■■ pace hoping zerrett/ parish/ bj gets there first, and then his opponent will get there first and zaharakis will just give up
Its hard to explain, but as soon as zaharakis knows there is someone at the contest who is accountable for him, he just loses interest.
needing a more experienced midfield around you to make you an effective player is not a defence, its an indictment.
Funny how this harks back to an earlier response to a post of your’s alex, but, no, it’s just a reality.
Every team has one or two blokes like that. The AFL is littered with them.
If, when the others return, Zaka reverts to an outside mid, delivering & finishing, and gets 20 - 25 per game and 2 goals average, we’d all be very happy indeed. Not every player is in the Jobe Zerret, Selwood Dangerfield mold.
Never have been,… never will be.
What is this, the new Stanton thread?