Essendon midfielder David Zaharakis says the Bombers left nothing on the track on Wednesday ahead of their crucial clash with Hawthorn on Saturday.

He said while you can learn from reviewing vision, the best way for the side to bounce back to its best is by putting its lessons into practice.

“The main way to improve is by training and doing it on the training track,” Zaharakis said after training.

“There’s a lot of heated stuff happening out there, but that’s what we want.

“We want guys to give feedback directly out there and coaches to give us feedback, because that’s the only way it’s going to improve – if we solve it as we’re doing it out there and then carry it into a game.”

The on-baller said he has been surprised by Essendon’s inconsistent start to the season and said the Bombers’ deficiencies in the midfield can be put down to “effort and intent”.

“Our contested footy in our best games is really good and again it comes back to that inconsistent nature of our game at the moment, that’s just spreading across all facets of it.”

“It’s your effort and your intent, that’s what you should get judged on each and every week.

“Skills, kicks, marks, handballs and all that – that’s irrelevant. It’s what you can do in your mind, it’s your effort, your energy and your intent in a contest.”

Zaharakis says the midfield’s advantage lies in its ability to push many more players through the middle than its opponent.

“I think the strength of ours is the amount of numbers we can get through there. 


“In round one against Adelaide we played about 10 midfielders against their four or five and that’s how we ground it out in that last quarter and ran over the top of them.

“I think if we can get more guys just playing consistent footy, it’s our numbers that actually do beat opposition teams…but we just haven’t got enough guys playing to the level that they can.”

The 28-year-old said he has faith in the team’s tactics, emphasising that its faults have come from the way it has been implemented by the playing group.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the game plan, I just think us as players we’re just not executing exactly what we want to do.

“We’re letting the ball leak to our backline on too many occasions, so the way we’re actually playing is not the right way we want to play.

“We want to cause a lot more turnovers in the front half and we’re not allowing ourselves to do that at the moment, so I don’t think it’s the game plan I think we’re not executing the game plan."

Essendon reaches a potential crossroad this week as it looks for its third win of the season against Hawthorn, but Zaharakis said it is important not to look past the match.

“There’s only 22 games you play, so every game counts a lot,” he said.

“We are two and four and it’s a game that we want to win, but we aren’t looking forward to any other game.

“We’re just focusing on this week and what we can do and the processes. If we start looking at (the) outcome then it’s going to get away from us.”