Essendon midfielder David Zaharakis says mentoring a handful of younger teammates has made him a proud leader of the club, regardless of official leadership positions.

The on-baller recently returned from a training camp in the US with fellow Bombers Kyle Langford, Orazio Fantasia, Conor McKenna and Shaun McKernan, and said he has made an effort to take a number of apprentices under his wing.

Zaharakis has journeyed annually to the high-altitude city of Boulder, Colorado, for a number of successive off-seasons and he said having teammates by his side this year was beneficial for all involved.

“Every year I go over to Boulder and train for two weeks. This year Langers and a couple of others joined me this year, which was awesome, they got the experience of going over there and training at a high altitude,” Zaharakis said after the side’s open training session in Ocean Grove on Wednesday.

“It was great to have other guys training there with you, because as much as I like going up there by myself to train, it’s better having your teammates there that you can do harder sessions with over there.”

The 28-year-old said working intimately with specific teammates is the most effective way for him to have a positive impact on the relatively inexperienced squad.

“The way I lead is more (on) an individual basis – taking Langers, Orazio and Shaun across to Boulder – that’s my type (of leadership),” he said.

“Whether that gets me into the leadership group or not, that doesn’t really bother me. I know that I’m a leader of a couple of younger guys that really look up to me and that’s the way I lead.”

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Zaharakis said he has never been a part of a more driven squad than the club’s current list as the Bombers strive to break through for success in 2019.

“It’s such a successful footy club over a long period of time and to not be able to achieve that since I’ve been playing here is quite frustrating. You just want to be a part of it.

“That’s why it’s great when you get young guys like Langers that are committed to coming to Boulder and wanting to improve and get better, and you can drive them and they can drive you.

“It’s great to have that, because you know that the footy club is desiring that success.

“I want to be successful and I’m sure Langers does, and I think this group at the moment is the most committed and dedicated I’ve seen to their craft and I think it’s a very good sign.”

The midfielder’s 187 senior games make him the club’s most experienced player, something he admitted was “unbelievable”, but the veteran Don certainly isn’t showing any signs of slowing down soon and is excited to be back into training ahead of his 11th season.

“Everyone’s refreshed and rejuvenated. You get 11 weeks off now, so you just want to come back in and actually train and get stuck into it,” Zaharakis said.

“We just want to go about our business and improve every week and just work on us as a footy club about what we can do to get better next year.”

Zaharakis said it was nice to get away to Barwon Heads this week for a special training camp and embrace the rare chance to engage with the area’s passionate Essendon fans at Wednesday’s training session.

“It’s always nice to get out of Melbourne just for a couple of days down here and it’s a good chance for the people of Ocean Grove, Barwon Heads and the whole area to come down and have a look at us, because they might not make the trip up to Melbourne too often to watch us train.

“It’s just good for them to come here for a little session and for us to get away and interact with our fans.