Esava remains a Cat!!

[Sttew]

Freo forward's future unclear, big Cat set to shun rival offers

AFL.com.au reporters Mitch Cleary and Callum Twomey with all the latest trade news

www.afl.com.au

Assuming this comes off, this is fantastic news, IMO. At 22 there is a lot of upside in the big man. I know people say he can't kick to save himself, but there was a time when Tom Hawkins

26

Tom Hawkins

Age

35

Ht

197cm

Wt

105kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.2

3star

K

7.9

3star

HB

4.4

3star

M

5.5

5star

T

1.9

4star

G

2.1

5star

D

12.7

3star

K

8.6

3star

HB

4.1

3star

M

5.1

5star

T

2.1

3star

G

1.6

5star

D

7.8

2star

K

5.6

3star

HB

2.2

2star

M

4.2

4star

T

1.0

3star

G

2.2

5star

couldn't kick!

 

[gaz love x]

Yep best is still to come. Hasn't had a great season but also hasn't been done any favours with the role he's been asked to play.

 

[Turbocat]

Freo forward's future unclear, big Cat set to shun rival offers

AFL.com.au reporters Mitch Cleary and Callum Twomey with all the latest trade news

www.afl.com.au

Assuming this comes off, this is fantastic news, IMO. At 22 there is a lot of upside in the big man. I know people say he can't kick to save himself, but there was a time when Tom Hawkins couldn't kick!

I look forward to the improvement so that one day he can kick 4 goals 1 behind ..like Hawkins did in his second game. 23 at the end of July and 50-60 games by seasons end, if he is up to it then he should be ready to show what ever he has . He has rare talent juts not sure if he is skilled enough to be a very good footballer.

 

[frggr]

Great news. Esava strikes me as the type to "repay the faith" and do what's right by the club. Great news if he signs on.

Opposition club interest shows how much he's valued, despite some not seeing that on this board

 

[goyoucatters]

Freo forward's future unclear, big Cat set to shun rival offers

AFL.com.au reporters Mitch Cleary and Callum Twomey with all the latest trade news

www.afl.com.au

Assuming this comes off, this is fantastic news, IMO. At 22 there is a lot of upside in the big man. I know people say he can't kick to save himself, but there was a time when Tom Hawkins couldn't kick!

Whatever the actual outcomes in front of the big sticks, there has never been any reasonable comparison between the respective techniques for goal kicking between Toma and Esava. Hawkins always looked to have a technique that could become reliable and reproducible. Which is exactly how it has proved.

Esava has never shown himself to be anything other than 'iffy' (GFC's word of the week) when presented with an opportunity to shoot for goal. And neither the technique nor the output appear to be improving much at all in that respect. I'm not against seeing the club offer him another contract. But he's a long way off establishing himself as either a KPF or a genuine ruck at this point in his career. And the trajectory of improvement seems to have tailed off from what we saw early as well.

Really hope he still makes it with us, of course. But surely nobody could reasonably suggest that there aren't realistic causes for concern at this point. After all, there's been nothing like a steady arc of improvement from him over recent times.

'Treading water' would have to be about the most favourable spin you could put on his last season and a half in the hoops.

 

[bulletproof]

The weird thing about Esava’s kicking is that it seems to have regressed from a technical point of view.

I am interested to see what he makes of the opportunity of Cameron’s injury.

I think keep him close to home and see if he can clunk a few marks. I think the old Robbie Walls ‘run him in the ruck’ philosophy may help him come back better as a forward.

It is hard for a guy like Esava playing in a forward line with Cameron and Hawkins, I am sure there is so much instruction of where he is supposed to lead etc.

Give him the goal square this week and tell him to run and jump at everything.

The game is so technical and tactical these days, can be very hard to establish yourself if you are just a natural athlete. They lose confidence very easily (same is true for Clark).

 

[Kitcat]

Yep best is still to come. Hasn't had a great season but also hasn't been done any favours with the role he's been asked to play.

We have to keep him due to his undoubted potential. If he started taking more marks, he would be hard to stop. Perhaps he needs a spell in the VFL to get his confidence up.

 

[Down at K Park]

Great news. Esava strikes me as the type to "repay the faith" and do what's right by the club. Great news if he signs on.

Opposition club interest shows how much he's valued, despite some not seeing that on this board

He should “repay the faith” by learning to kick. Seen no improvement in 5 years.

He simply won’t make unless he does.

 

[goyoucatters]

He should “repay the faith” by learning to kick. Seen no improvement in 5 years.

He simply won’t make unless he does.

Staggering to me that we always hear talk about the need to 'develop players' and yet there seems to have been no meaningful work done to address what is obviously the most glaring shortcoming in his game.

 

[BORIS332]

I firmly believe Esava will be an A-grader by the end of his career. Let's not forget he had a fractured leg at the start of the year.

 

[Sttew]

I firmly believe Esava will be an A-grader by the end of his career. Let's not forget he had a fractured leg at the start of the year.

His marking and athleticism are excellent.

 

[STPer18]

Would be insane to cut him loose after the development we've already put into him. I'm an unabashed fan of the big Sav-in-batter, if the club can somehow unlock his 'potential', we'll be onto a real winner here.

 

[Strange Cat]

He should “repay the faith” by learning to kick. Seen no improvement in 5 years.

He simply won’t make unless he does.

Hawkins struggle for a while after all his injuries in the early days, I’m loathed to write off the kid at this stage

 

[dazbroncos]

Too much potential to not invest further in. How that plays out remains to be seen - but IMO the risk reward is the higher ceiling and physical attributes he has for the lower price we could retain him for vs what others would pay.

Not saying he’s the next coming of Otto... but the potential is better on our list than anywhere else IMO. And he’s only 22 from a non football background as a kid..
to me suggests upside ... we will see

Of course... ruling out defensive spoils on our f50 goal line is a good start.

Go Catters

 

[Down at K Park]

Hawkins struggle for a while after all his injuries in the early days, I’m loathed to write off the kid at this stage

Hawkins was always pretty technically proficient though. Just needed slight tweaking and a heap of practice. Sav looks like he needs to start from scratch.

 

[catempire]

The commentary on his kicking is the biggest exaggeration in the history of the universe.

 

[Warhorse]

Has not improved for years. Hopefully he is one of those players where it all just suddenly clicks.

 

[Sttew]

I just did a stats comparison and there really is no comparison between Hawkins and Sav.

It definitely took Hawkins 5 seasons to properly establish himself. In his first 5 seasons he kicked 127 goals and in season 6 he kicked 62 goals. Hawkins averaged 6.2 kicks and 5.1 marks per game in his first 5 seasons. In comparison, Sav is averaging 5 kicks a game, 2.7 marks and 0.7 goals per game!

 

[goyoucatters]

The commentary on his kicking is the biggest exaggeration in the history of the universe.

Not even close. Your statement above is far closer to that reality, for a start.

 

[catempire]

Not even close. Your statement above is far closer to that reality, for a start.

*whoosh*

 

[you pick one]

The commentary on his kicking is the biggest exaggeration in the history of the universe.

To small a sample over the last 2 years to tell if he has improved or not,he has to get it first.

 

[patience]

Hawkins was always pretty technically proficient though. Just needed slight tweaking and a heap of practice. Sav looks like he needs to start from scratch.

To be fair Hawkins had good coaching from babyhood. I'm glad Esava is staying.

 

[Down at K Park]

To be fair Hawkins had good coaching from babyhood. I'm glad Esava is staying.

Yes that is fair. Hawk was born a footballer. Sav is a johhny come lately.

I really hope they spend a heap of time on his kicking at training.

 

[you pick one]

To be fair Hawkins had good coaching from babyhood. I'm glad Esava is staying.

Don't turn this off until you have seen the woolshed around the 2 minute mark.

How Hawkins honed his skills at home

There are some sporting stories that have become part of Australian folklore such as a young Sir Don Bradman hitting a golf ball with a cricket stump as practice.

www.aflplayers.com.au

 

[calder_daddy]

I just did a stats comparison and there really is no comparison between Hawkins and Sav.

It definitely took Hawkins 5 seasons to properly establish himself. In his first 5 seasons he kicked 127 goals and in season 6 he kicked 62 goals. Hawkins averaged 6.2 kicks and 5.1 marks per game in his first 5 seasons. In comparison, Sav is averaging 5 kicks a game, 2.7 marks and 0.7 goals per game!

So in Hawkins first 5 season he kicked 127 yet you dismiss the fact that Sav has only kicked 29 half way through his 4th year
I know there’s a positional difference but for the way he’s spoken about he should be on Atleast half that to half a good building block.
It’s only up from here