David Zaharakis says he is as fit as he’s ever been as the start of the NAB Challenge draws closer.
Injury restricted the 25 year old to 16 games in 2015.
But he hasn’t missed a session throughout the pre-season and his sound conditioning was confirmed on the weekend when he crossed the finish line in first position in the Club’s triathlon.
“It’s definitely the fittest I’ve ever been in terms of the two kilometre time trial and winning the triathlon today – I’ve never done that at the Club before,” Zaharakis said.
“It’s going along well, the body’s holding up well. I haven’t missed a session yet – that’s probably a first for me which is good.”
New recruit Ryan Crowley and Vice-Captain Mark Baguley rounded out the place getters.
“He (Crowley) is a machine on the bike, I was lucky I got him in the run leg right at the end,” Zaharakis said.
“I think his legs were giving way a bit but he’s a fitness machine, he’s been that throughout his whole career.”
The players gathered in Williamstown on Saturday expecting to tackle the traditional swim, bike and run legs.
But with heavy rain falling in Melbourne throughout much of last week, the swim leg was replaced by a beach commando course.
“As soon as we got told we didn’t have to do the swim leg, that was a bit exciting for a few of the boys,” Zaharakis joked.
“It was a good triathlon circuit with the bike and then the run leg – but I liked the crab walk and the push-ups at the start – that sort of shook up a few boys.”
Essendon’s Physical Performance Manager Justin Crow said he was pleased with the times recorded by the players as the pre-season program enters its final phase.
“The guys were great, they attacked it like we hoped,” Crow said.
“It’s a good way to mix it up, it’s actually pretty similar to the exercise we do on a normal Saturday and a lot of fun because it gets the guys competitive.
“We’ll keep building up our match play, a bit like an in-season program.
“We’ll be really ramping up our volumes to hopefully hit some new heights this season.”
