WHEN he walks, David Zaharakis has an obvious bounce in his step. Watch him for just a minute and you’ll see it.
With his arms dragging slightly by his sides, Zaharakis walks on his toes rather than his heels and, instead of staying straight-legged, bends at the knees. It produces a bobbing effect with each motion, a spring off the ground with every stride.
It’s a gait - almost a strut, but not quite - which has earned the short, solidly built Essendon forward with the dark eyes and shaved head the quiet ribbing of friends. But it’s one that suits the 21-year-old’s vibrant personality perfectly.
“A lot of people mention it,” Zaharakis said, grinning, when we met this week. “My mates give me a bit of flak about it, but the walk is probably a reflection of how I am. I’m a really upbeat person.”
That’s true. And Zaharakis - he introduced himself as Dave, but is just as commonly known as ‘Zakka’, a nickname on the number plates on his first car - has reason to be feeling good.
This season, Zaharakis has become a key player for the Bombers. In many ways, he’s symbolic of Essendon’s improvement, a young player who has risen sharply with a big and productive pre-season campaign.
It’s Zaharakis’ balance that is central to his football. But what is most striking is his ability to juggle the pressures of professional sport with the enjoyment of it. He hasn’t forgotten how to have fun.
Zaharakis’ inherent enthusiasm is obvious when he speaks. When we met at Essendon’s Windy Hill headquarters last Sunday before a training session, Zaharakis was in a chatty mood. Actually, he usually is. He says it comes from his parents, John and Sandy.
“I’ve got a lot of values from them. Mum’s very carefree and easygoing and I get that from her. But then I get my determination and stern side from my Dad, who’s a really upfront man,” he says. “At least that’s what Mum says.”
The Zaharakis name - perhaps the best roll-off-your-tongue four-syllable surname in the AFL - is of Greek origin.
John, who works at a travel company in Melbourne as the head of conferences and events, arrived from Greece in 1961, when he was five.
John’s father, Arthur Zaharakis, had moved here a year earlier to earn enough money to pay for the ship fares for his wife Sofia, John and daughter Anna to also leave their village of Siatista, situated in the mountainous north of Greece near the city of Kozani, and set up in Australia.
Arthur passed away before David was drafted in 2008, and Sofia died last year, but would eagerly watch Essendon games on television or listen on radio waiting for the Zaharakis name to be called out by commentators. She was full of pride when it was.
Read the full article in this weekend’s AFL Record, available at all matches.
