Former Essendon midfielder David Zaharakis is reportedly set to join Casey's VFL list for the 2022 season as a potential top-up option for Melbourne.
Zaharkais was delisted by Essendon after 13 years with the club, joining Northern Football League club Bundoora for the year ahead after 226 games in the red and black.
The league confirmed this week that clubs will be able to call on reserve-listed players should their squad be compromised due to COVID-19 and other ailments, with affiliated sides set to aid senior lists in the AFL.
Zaharakis now firms as a chance to feature for the reigning premiers, with the 32-year-old now set to sign with Casey, according to Seven News' Mitch Cleary.
Should Zaharkis link up with the Demons at some point this season, he'd reunite with former Bombers assistant and current Demons senior coach Simon Goodwin in the red and blue.
AFL clubs are expecting to see an influx in players sidelined by the COVID-19 virus throughout the course of the 2022 season, with any further injuries set to wreak further havoc on the league.
SEE ALSO: Port defender sidelined after knee surgery
Simon Goodwin coached David Zaharakis in his sole game leading Essendon in 2013.
Nine years on, he's a chance to coach him again after a last-minute move. https://t.co/pz2VAbnnLa
— Mitch Cleary (@cleary_mitch) March 10, 2022
A 2011 Crichton Medal winner, Zaharakis would need to see a major change in fortune within the Demons' casualty ward to be in consideration for an AFL return.
Melbourne's premiership run was buoyed by limited impacts from injury, with key defender Adam Tomlinson one of a few players set to make their return from injury this year.
The Demons will begin their premiership defence on Wednesday against the Bulldogs at the MCG, while all AFL clubs will be required to submit their COVID contingency lists to the league before 5pm Friday, March 11.
