ZAHARAKIS, David

David Zaharakis was recruited as pick 23 in the 2008 AFL Draft from the Northern Knights Under 18s. He was named in the All-Australian Under 18 team in 2008, playing for Vic Metro.

He made his debut in Round 2, 2009, in a win over Fremantle, and won a Rising Star nomination. He played a further nine games that season and quickly developed into a top midfielder, always performing at a high level. He also became a very consistent player and missed very few games until injuries started to take their toll in his last few years.

Despite a stellar career, he is probably best known for his match-winning goal in the dying seconds of the 2009 Anzac Day match against Collingwood. It was just his fourth game of senior football. He had another outstanding Anzac Day game in 2013 when he recorded 34 disposals and four goals and was awarded the Anzac Day Medal.

His consistency is reflected in his four top ten finishes in the Crichton Medal, an award he won in 2011, in just his third season.

He had a well-known aversion to needles so did not take part in the Club's supplement program and, as a result, was not one of the players subsequently suspended because of it.

He was delisted at the end of the 2020 season and signed with Melbourne as one of their COVID-19 "top up" players, but did not play any senior games for them.

Zaharakis studied Property and Real Estate at Deakin University and in 2023, took part in the TV series Australian Survivor: Heroes v Villains. He was voted out on Day 29 of the series, the second last to be eliminated.