AFL Player 5: Elijah Tsatas

[Nuggs Bunny]

 

[dondolla]

Of all the things to criticise him for, you criticise his work ethic? The guy who stays back after training to work on his kicking every week?

I’m not saying he has bad work ethic, I was more suggesting he needs to work on things like his defensive stuff, and making his disposals matter rather than handballing it to someone a metre away.

I don’t know if he has bad work ethic. I wouldn’t take him doing extra kicking as a sign he has good work ethic either, the fact is that he is a bad kick and if he wants to be a good afl player he needs to fix it up. Extra kicking would be in his program anyways, it’s not like the rest of them go home and he’s kicking, they all have things they need to do and that’s why the club pay them to be there, some would need to spend more time in the gym or on their marking.

He also can’t run out games well, so maybe he can use some of that great work ethic on getting fitter.

 

[ant555]

Of all the things to criticise him for, you criticise his work ethic? The guy who stays back after training to work on his kicking every week?

True. I roast him for a few things but training and preparation is not one of them.

 

[fishardansin]

He needs to take a leaf out of Nic Martin's book and get a personal trainer over the summer break.

He needs to go to the boxing gym that Watson went to. He can then make sure he doesn't bite off too much with his kicking options to cover that weakness.

 

[srobbo]

Straight swap for Zane Durrsma

 

[ydc55]

Straight swap for Zane Durrsma

Not sure north need another mid but pick 4 versus a pidk 5 seems fair.
He is best mates with George

 

[Lore]

Will undergo a medical with both SA teams, Collingwood, Richmond.

Interesting. Might get rid of him yet

 

[yodellinhank]

Interesting. Might get rid of him yet

I'd doubt he passes a medical, but i live in hope

 

[ant555]

Interesting. Might get rid of him yet

Richmond would surprise. The rest well I guess so.

 

[crackers65]

True. I roast him for a few things but training and preparation is not one of them.

This is the same bloke who plays low game time cause he’s gassed?

 

[yodellinhank]

This is the same bloke who plays low game time cause he’s gassed?

Works too hard at training

 

[ant555]

This is the same bloke who plays low game time cause he’s gassed?

Well if you do not have the endurance then you do not have it.
You can take it to the bank. One of his faults is not his training or effort put in behind the scenes.
His endurance was always a bit of a mystery before the draft given the amount of footy he missed due to injury.

 

[BrunoV]

The answer to whether you can see Tsatas on the field in that EM is the answer to your question about whether he has any place on our list.

 

[jdstorm]

Club seems to be cleaning out any players who don’t go hard at the contest.

Suspect those clubs view him as a good buy low extractor candidate and would back in their culture to improve his defensive effort.

Curious to see what we’d be getting back.

 

[dondolla]

Curious to see what we’d be getting back.

I wonder if the club would look to build up points for Sweid and El-Achkar. Pick 22 and 25 might be able to cover for both, but if they got enough points those picks can be traded for players or to move up in the draft. I’d be surprised if they held 22 and 25 to match bids anyways, given they’re picks that have reasonable value.

One way to look at it is if he goes and the NGA kids come in, it could be like effectively trading him for two seconds - which I don’t think you’d be able to get via trade.

 

[jdstorm]

I wonder if the club would look to build up points for Sweid and El-Achkar. Pick 22 and 25 might be able to cover for both, but if they got enough points those picks can be traded for players or to move up in the draft. I’d be surprised if they held 22 and 25 to match bids anyways, given they’re picks that have reasonable value.

One way to look at it is if he goes and the NGA kids come in, it could be like effectively trading him for two seconds - which I don’t think you’d be able to get via trade.

The way I’m looking at it is with Sheil, Lav, Davey and Menzie gone and 6 players currently set to come in via draft (picks + NGA) we have to trade 6 players to create spots for them. So it will be about finding which 6+ players (and picks)to trade in a way to consolidate as much talent into the top of the list as possible

 

[thepokey]

I can't help but feel this is going to be a lose/lose for us .. that if we keep him he's just going to plod along same as usual. But if he leaves he's going to explode into an amazing player

 

[MarkJohnson#1]

I can't help but feel this is going to be a lose/lose for us .. that if we keep him he's just going to plod along same as usual. But if he leaves he's going to explode into an amazing player

If it’s a lose/lose in your scenario then that is on us, we haven’t allowed him to reach his potential. In that case we’ve got far bigger problems than whether or not he stays or goes…

 

[jdstorm]

I can't help but feel this is going to be a lose/lose for us .. that if we keep him he's just going to plod along same as usual. But if he leaves he's going to explode into an amazing player

lots of factors here.

He could leave, explode into an amazing player and depending on the trade return be a win/win. Especially if we draft an inside mid who takes that spot and is a better player

Biggest issues this year were lack of intensity especially defensively. If he can improve on that side of his game there’s a decent player in there

 

[Keystone agony]

lots of factors here.

He could leave, explode into an amazing player and depending on the trade return be a win/win. Especially if we draft an inside mid who takes that spot and is a better player

Biggest issues this year were lack of intensity especially defensively. If he can improve on that side of his game there’s a decent player in there

Dont think you can consider it a win if we draft someone at 5 that becomes a gun inside mid if he returns us a 3rd round pick who is a mediocre player like most 3rd round picks and Tsatas becokes a gun

Rather just keep him if were getting a 3rd rounder in a pretty mellow draft, thats likely sucked up by bids anyway

Just keep him if its a 3rd rounder, were not losing anything

 

[thepokey]

If it’s a lose/lose in your scenario then that is on us, we haven’t allowed him to reach his potential. In that case we’ve got far bigger problems than whether or not he stays or goes…

Oh yeah in that scenario it would be on us ... not saying it can be avoided or whatever, just have a feeling its going to be that way. And you're not wrong, if he left and suddenly exploded somewhere else then thats another wake-up call for us. Pat Voss I can kind of understand ... maybe he didn't have his head in the game .. you can kind of say that's on us for not pulling him into line, but also you can't change a player if they don't want to change. So maybe he just needed the delisting to be the wake-up call. But Tsatas would be a different story for me

 

[jdstorm]

Dont think you can consider it a win if we draft someone at 5 that becomes a gun inside mid if he returns us a 3rd round pick who is a mediocre player like most 3rd round picks and Tsatas becokes a gun

Rather just keep him if were getting a 3rd rounder in a pretty mellow draft, thats likely sucked up by bids anyway

Just keep him if its a 3rd rounder, were not losing anything

I wouldn’t think so either.

However I don’t expect us to accept the paddy Dow return. I think/suspect it will be some kind of player swap ie Dursma for BZT. Or he will be part of a package for a good player and/or future first

 

[FlyingV]

Let’s just hope this is the last time our List Management thinks it’s a good idea to take a player who they plan to play on the ball who has ok to poor endurance base. Parish, Francis (lots of talk about him becoming a power mid at the point of drafting), McGrath, Hobbs and Tsatas - not one was known for their endurance.

Tsatas is the most scathing, becuase he tested so poorly, so you would have hoped they knew about some good pre-season testing or something to justify the selection.

For what it’s worth, I’d prefer to keep Tsatas on the list: I’ve lost confidence in our ability to develop talent, especially since Dambrosio and Voss have burned us. Tsatas does get you more clearances then the opposition when in there, and I wonder if another uninterrupted preseason and being used in a way that leverages his strengths gets something out of him yet.

 

[Duckworth]

Let’s just hope this is the last time our List Management thinks it’s a good idea to take a player who they plan to play on the ball who has ok to poor endurance base. Parish, Francis (lots of talk about him becoming a power mid at the point of drafting), McGrath, Hobbs and Tsatas - not one was known for their endurance.

Tsatas is the most scathing, becuase he tested so poorly, so you would have hoped they knew about some good pre-season testing or something to justify the selection.

For what it’s worth, I’d prefer to keep Tsatas on the list: I’ve lost confidence in our ability to develop talent, especially since Dambrosio and Voss have burned us. Tsatas does get you more clearances then the opposition when in there, and I wonder if another uninterrupted preseason and being used in a way that leverages his strengths gets something out of him yet.

Yup 4 is really high for someone that can't run or kick. He must have made some pretty amazing handballs.

 

[bacon buster]

Well if you do not have the endurance then you do not have it.
You can take it to the bank. One of his faults is not his training or effort put in behind the scenes.
His endurance was always a bit of a mystery before the draft given the amount of footy he missed due to injury.

If tubby 03-04 Jobe Watson hadn't become one of the game's best midfielders for a 4-5 year period, then I would believe that. Jobe always had elite characteristics, but endurance was clearly not one of them when drafted.

There are many other examples.

 

[dondolla]

if he left and suddenly exploded somewhere else then thats another wake-up call for us.

I don’t think they need any more wake up calls that the clubs a bit ****ed. They’ve put more money into development since everything changed in 2022, and it seems to be working with others. Durham, Martin, Caldwell, Roberts.

It’s a bit of a perfect storm for Tsatas in a bad way, injured in his draft year, got injured in his first preseason so missed half of 2023, they tried to get him games on the wing which didn’t work so they put him in the vfl and then he gets gets a chance and has more injuries and is middling at best. We don’t see everything though, there must be a bit of mutual frustration so maybe it’s best he and the club break up. I’ll be pretty confident though that if they trade him for a third rounder there’s more issues than his poor kicking.