After starting his career with South Melbourne, Sarkies played in the A-league Grand Final with Melbourne Victory, he scored his third goal for the club in his team's 6-0 thrashing of Adelaide in the 90th minute and scoring from long range. However it was upon collecting his championship medal that he made headlines around the country by kissing Australian Prime Minister John Howard on his bald head.
Adelaide United
On 30 March 2007, Sarkies signed a one-year deal with Adelaide United, linking up with his Australian U23 teammates Bruce Djite, Nathan Burns and Robert Cornthwaite. Days after his arrival, captain Ross Aloisi signed with new team Wellington Phoenix, paving the way for Sarkies to become a key player in the Reds midfield brigade. On 28 December after Adelaide's loss to Sydney 3–1 at Adelaide Oval in which Sarkies scored a goal; he complained of a sore arm during the game and was later hospitalized then diagnosed with a deep vein thrombosis in his arm at the end of December. Sarkies signed a new deal with United in May 2008 that kept him at the club until the end of the A-League 2009-10 season. Sarkies set up Sasa Ognenovski from a well taken free kick to score a goal in his 50th A-League game in Adelaide's 2–0 win over Sydney FC Despite an inauspicious start to his Adelaide career Sarkies influence on the team began to show with the injury to fellow playmakerDiego culminating with his first goal of the 2008–09 season which turned out to be the only goal of the round 17 clash against Perth Glory at Members Equity Stadium. He followed it up a week later providing assists for both goals in the 2–0 win over Sydney FC at Adelaide Oval on 3 January 2009.
Melbourne Heart
After a mixed year with injuries, and not having cemented himself in Adelaide's first XI, he was heavily linked with a move to the new A-League club Melbourne Heart, coming into the competition in the 2010–11 season. The move was confirmed on 24 November 2009 with Sarkies becoming the club's first signing. On 6 April 2012 it was announced that he would be leaving the club.
Sarkies was called up by coach Guus Hiddink to be part of the "train-on" squad leading up to Australia's appearance at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He won his first cap in the dying minutes of Australia's 3-1 friendly win against Liechtenstein on 8 June 2006. He was then kept in Germany with the Socceroos after he was given a personal invitation from Guus Hiddink to stay with the team until after the first group match with Japan. Sarkies has represented his country at all youth levels and was involved in Australia's qualifying campaign for the Beijing 2008 Olympics. The first game of this campaign was against Chinese Taipei at Hindmarsh Stadium on 7 February 2007. Australia won the match 11–0, with Sarkies scoring four goals.
