AFL Player 5: Elijah Tsatas

[Nuggs Bunny]

 

[gillon]

He frustrates me but it is to do with me likely the players who play on the edge in all aspects.
He was very good. Clearance and contested footy offensively was really good. Stoppage work was good. Kicking was generally okay. He is creative by had.
What annoys me is 3 times he could have blocked for an opponent after giving off a handball but he did a Stanton and just ran forward to a dumb spot calling for the ball back. And several times he was selective as far as making an effort to tackle someone. 1 tackle for the game was not good enough.
It is what it is I guess. He is a ball winner and the physical pressure side is not in his nature.

The improvement he’s made in his kicking is already extraordinary, based off limited data admittedly. It was truly atrocious and not even VFL quality last year. I really hope he can keep it up because changing kicking technique after ~15 years is not an easy thing to do, but they’ve obviously adjusted something.

I’d back him to improve on his pressure and physical nature based off this and Scotts’ comments.

 

[IHurley]

He's the anti-Perkins.

Perkins does everything very well except find the pill. It's the hardest skill in footy and he just doesn't have it. I still think he'll be a good player but he'll never develop that.

Tsatas is as good as I've seen at it. That's why I've always been a fan. Every other skill bar athleticism - which he also has in spades - you can work on.

 

[thebigboy]

Biggest thing for him now is to not take a step back once the season starts. He’s proven (albeit in meaningless games) that he can belong & potentially thrive at the level, now he’s got to produce when it matters.

Hopefully his career is having a Jobe Watson style trajectory to it. Slow start, big off-season developing his body & habits and develops into a bone-fide stoppage machine (I am not saying he will reach the same heights as Jobe FYI)

 

[Agronomus]

There was still a lot not to like about his first half - was more low impact, bruise free footy for mine.

BUT….second half was better and the last quarter was the best we’ve seen from him. Clean hands and was more competitive around the contest. Hopefully he can build on that.

Let’s not set a low bar for his kicking. Might look ok but did he hit a single target by foot?

Yes. Great contested mark by Kako on hf but he still got him

 

[Agronomus]

function of ruck dominance and good fortune is the centre break.

we were top 4 on average for that stat last year with such elite sides as north melbourne and carlton.

imo it's him or parish.

Bye bye Parish

 

[jannissary]

being far too harsh on his performance considering it was likely one of the first times he played through the guts at the level and the first time at the level in a fair while. everyone has bad kicks - his was consistent and demonstrated that he's actually improved a lot over the past couple of months.

 

[Bipolar Bear]

has clearly put his head down and worked really hard

 

[Vander18]

Yes. Great contested mark by Kako on hf but he still got him

He did. Happy to concede he hit that target.

 

[Call Me Cake]

He reminds me of Watson

 

[Agronomus]

He reminds me of Watson

Timmy's kicking was good enough for all the other amazing things that he had

 

[DERO]

He has looked really good folks. He'll play round one.

 

[Tazdog]

Lot of people here still finding a reason to hate on the kid. 10 games (most as sub), 1 full preseason. And he came in and played basically as good as parish. As someone said, his kicking has gone from 'liability' level to 'not a strength' which if we told you this 6 months ago, you'd definitely take it.
Again, 10 games he's played. He will get better, and by all reports he was the most determined player in preseason. He will get there, and will improve one deficiency at a time. You can't expect him to be the finished product in year 3.

 

[ant555]

Lot of people here still finding a reason to hate on the kid. 10 games (most as sub), 1 full preseason. And he came in and played basically as good as parish. As someone said, his kicking has gone from 'liability' level to 'not a strength' which if we told you this 6 months ago, you'd definitely take it.
Again, 10 games he's played. He will get better, and by all reports he was the most determined player in preseason. He will get there, and will improve one deficiency at a time. You can't expect him to be the finished product in year 3.

What is with the hate BS ?
It is not hate. It is opinion. I have been watching him for 5 years. No one is expecting him to be the finished product but it is fair to highlight the issues he has.

And his kicking is not a strength. It has just progressed to a level where it is good enough.
If you want a comparison.
Hobbs- 7 effective kicks out of 16
Tsatas - 8 effective kicks out of 15

He is coming along well now he has had a full pre season and looks like he will be a good player but he has some issues with his game that are not likely to be a lot better.

 

[FootyGuru]

Mostly very good signs from tsatas. I’d prefer a higher tackle count but the one he laid was a very good tackle.

These young mids come into a side and they engage an oppo at stoppage. It’s drilled into them to do so but as they gain more disposals and confidence they drift earlier from contact and can get a little too aggressive. I have already noticed this from tsatas which as long as we are dominant in ruck is fine but if it’s neutral or losing, we get found out.

Longer connection to an oppo leads to more tackles which I think a necessary part for the teams number 1 inside mid.

I think Scott and co will start pulling him back if it gets too bad though.

One thing I loved was his strength over the ball, at one stage Jeremy Cameron went inside mid and had 2/3 cracks at knocking tsatas off the ball while in motion and tsatas not only collected it but won the ball.

We needed another elite cb player with stringer gone and Shiel down back and we have found one.

I think everyone bar Merrett in our midfield need to take a workman like approach, I have hated parish’s one way approach to the midfield and hope he comes along for the team first model.

 

[fairbump_playon]

Tsatas body

 

[ant555]

Mostly very good signs from tsatas. I’d prefer a higher tackle count but the one he laid was a very good tackle.

These young mids come into a side and they engage an oppo at stoppage. It’s drilled into them to do so but as they gain more disposals and confidence they drift earlier from contact and can get a little too aggressive. I have already noticed this from tsatas which as long as we are dominant in ruck is fine but if it’s neutral or losing, we get found out.

Longer connection to an oppo leads to more tackles which I think a necessary part for the teams number 1 inside mid.

I think Scott and co will start pulling him back if it gets too bad though.

One thing I loved was his strength over the ball, at one stage Jeremy Cameron went inside mid and had 2/3 cracks at knocking tsatas off the ball while in motion and tsatas not only collected it but won the ball.

We needed another elite cb player with stringer gone and Shiel down back and we have found one.

I think everyone bar Merrett in our midfield need to take a workman like approach, I have hated parish’s one way approach to the midfield and hope he comes along for the team first model.

I agree and it is one area of physicality he should improve on. He was doing it in the match sim against Hobbs and Setterfield. I just do not think it is totally in his nature which is why away from the contest he can be a bit selective as far as putting on any physical pressure or shepherding. He will win a hard footy at ground level but he is not in love with other physical aspects of the game. That is okay. He will get by winning the footy and having 4 or so tackles. It is more the fact I do not really like the selective moments but he can be a very good player even with that in his game.

 

[Just A Tragic]

My question on Elijah is more about whether our team is good / smart enough to work with his strength and minimise his weakness though positioning, game plans etc.

Look at the Hawks with Massimo - fringe at the bomber because his weaknesses were very exposed. He still has those weaknesses at the Hawks, but they minimise them, and maximise the damage of his weapons.

On Pixel 9 Pro using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[FootyGuru]

My question on Elijah is more about whether our team is good / smart enough to work with his strength and minimise his weakness though positioning, game plans etc.

Look at the Hawks with Massimo - fringe at the bomber because his weaknesses were very exposed. He still has those weaknesses at the Hawks, but they minimise them, and maximise the damage of his weapons.

On Pixel 9 Pro using BigFooty.com mobile app

It might have been game specific, but we did play a handball heavy brand.

Cats set up very well behind the ball, and intercept better than any team. Previously our sides have been happy to kick the ball under pressure and aim for a contest further up the field and potentially a stoppage, but especially this game vs the cats we tried to handball out of congestion. Tsatas to me looked like he has handball first mentality and only kicking when necessary.

I feel the game play will stick especially passages where we have a smaller forward line and no Draper to bomb it on. This should lead to better efficiency going forward, but probably less inside 50 numbers in total.

 

[craffles]

My question on Elijah is more about whether our team is good / smart enough to work with his strength and minimise his weakness though positioning, game plans etc.

Look at the Hawks with Massimo - fringe at the bomber because his weaknesses were very exposed. He still has those weaknesses at the Hawks, but they minimise them, and maximise the damage of his weapons.

On Pixel 9 Pro using BigFooty.com mobile app

Massimo was fringe at Essendon because Scott was a stubborn prick. He always had elite tools but instead of working on his strengths, Scott just focused on his flaws.

 

[ant555]

Massimo was fringe at Essendon because Scott was a stubborn prick. He always had elite tools but instead of working on his strengths, Scott just focused on his flaws.

We did actually want to keep him. Problem was Dodoro convinced everyone he would stay on a 1 year deal while the Hawks where in his ear with a longer deal and a different role. Scott did not play him while he was making him work on the defensive side of his game but he was not looking to trade him away. They offered him an extra year on slightly better money to try and keep him but at that stage the ship had sailed.

 

[Agronomus]

Massimo was fringe at Essendon because Scott was a stubborn prick. He always had elite tools but instead of working on his strengths, Scott just focused on his flaws.

Like when everyone fixates on Tsatas' kicking?

 

[FootyGuru]

We did actually want to keep him. Problem was Dodoro convinced everyone he would stay on a 1 year deal while the Hawks where in his ear with a longer deal and a different role. Scott did not play him while he was making him work on the defensive side of his game but he was not looking to trade him away. They offered him an extra year on slightly better money to try and keep him but at that stage the ship had sailed.

I would have definitely played Massimo more, especially with our lack of small forwards at the time. Massimo played great last year and no doubt he is a great kick. Worth 2 year contract then but only just….. He is still as soft as they come. Hospital handballs galore with no real aerial presence.

I much prefer a healthy duursma, who’s much tougher, better in the air, better defender, and isn’t much worse offensively than mass. Let’s hope for a healthy year from duursma to prove his worth.

 

[P Money]

Losing Mass was a mistake, pure and simple. EFC clearly didn't value him enough (or offer him enough) and he was poached by a rival. You can both say he has faults and say we messed up by letting him go at the same time - those things aren't mutually exclusive.

 

[Vander18]

As always, we’ll get the best insight into where he’s at when the real stuff starts.

GC and Matt Rowell first up - big challenge for Elijah.

 

[craffles]

Like when everyone fixates on Tsatas' kicking?

Great point. Agreed