AFL Player 5: Elijah Tsatas

[Nuggs Bunny]

 

[ant555]

I thought the knock on him was aerobic capacity and kicking technique, but I didnt really follow his junior footy write ups that much so was basing my expectations of him being a power/physical mid from his size/frame.

He is clearly a gun at winning the clearance but with his size you would expect him to take on a bit more physical contact once getting the ball, either to break out of congestion or release someone into space by absorbing the tackler(s).
From memory ross lyon copped a bit of heat for throwing young garcia under the bus in a post game presser early in year but he made a valid point re it not being enough to get first hands on the ball at a stoppage, you need to show the fortitude to want to keep the ball.

His under 18 form actually showed a bit of dash although he did not play a lot.
I mentioned after we drafted him that he could be a Treloar type. Good spread from the contest. Average kick.
Problem is he has down virtually no spread apart from the odd dash when he has been on the outside.
Pretty much zero powering from the contest. He basically wins the footy and fires off handballs.
The Metro v Country game he played at the back end of the season was horrible for physical effort. Pretty sure I posted here that it was one of the worst efforts I had seen. He skied down 3 mountains that day.
I really hope I am wrong and he finds some inner mojo as we sure as hell need him to become something.

Problem for me is I watched him from the boundary line a few times in the VFL last year and he short stepped contests. There where times when he simply did not commit when he should have done so.
It has been the same as what I was watching at under 18 level but at least then he was using a bit of outside run.

 

[crackers65]

Seems like you just want to complain tbh.

Pretty justified in complaining about a pick five who has shown nothing in three full years. Maybe I want to hold this club to higher standards than you.

 

[Call Me Cake]

Pretty justified in complaining about a pick five who has shown nothing in three full years. Maybe I want to hold this club to higher standards than you.

You say 3 but really he was injured in the pre-season before his first and only got back in time to play a few games near the end. Pretty misleading. He's also been prevented a long stint in the main team whereas other players that go at his selection are usually a shoe-in permanent selection from the get-go/aren't treated as harshly, probably because sides that have a top 5 pick are typically shit who don't have 28 year old has-beens being preferred and keeping them out.

 

[Zach Package]

Yeah I understand that, but he is four years at a professional AFL club. Looks really pretty doing drills by himself, with no pressure, but will we see any substance to his game under physical pressure?

The only way we find that out is with exposure though, isn't it, no point ragging on him going over and above at this point.

Problem he has is we have demonstrated very little will to expose him and put the rubber to the road.

 

[boncer34]

Pretty justified in complaining about a pick five who has shown nothing in three full years. Maybe I want to hold this club to higher standards than you.

Ok love.

 

[dank420_]

Pretty justified in complaining about a pick five who has shown nothing in three full years. Maybe I want to hold this club to higher standards than you.

So him doing extra work is the critique?

 

[jdstorm]

I hope he goes well.

we know he can get hands on the ball but until he ups his defensive effort he won’t get/deserve a game.

He’s athletic enough to be a good defender it’s just about effort

 

[DERO]

Pretty justified in complaining about a pick five who has shown nothing in three full years. Maybe I want to hold this club to higher standards than you.

I wouldn’t say that he has shown “nothing”. He can clearly get his hands on the football.

 

[FlyingV]

His under 18 form actually showed a bit of dash although he did not play a lot.
I mentioned after we drafted him that he could be a Treloar type. Good spread from the contest. Average kick.
Problem is he has down virtually no spread apart from the odd dash when he has been on the outside.
Pretty much zero powering from the contest. He basically wins the footy and fires off handballs.
The Metro v Country game he played at the back end of the season was horrible for physical effort. Pretty sure I posted here that it was one of the worst efforts I had seen. He skied down 3 mountains that day.
I really hope I am wrong and he finds some inner mojo as we sure as hell need him to become something.

Problem for me is I watched him from the boundary line a few times in the VFL last year and he short stepped contests. There where times when he simply did not commit when he should have done so.
It has been the same as what I was watching at under 18 level but at least then he was using a bit of outside run.

I remember watching every minute of that metro country game and man was he scrappy that day. But he was coming back from his injuries to be fair so was impressed he even played. That said, looking back now, he didn’t like contact in that game, disposals were messy, and looked panicked at times. That’s translated unfortunately.

He does look very dynamic and far more explosive in the below vision then what we have seen to date. That’s what got me so excited. I just thought he was rusty:

 

[Westlo]

Should never had been dropped after his last sub game, was decent.

Had a crunching tackle that should've been holding the ball, set up Roberts who should've goaled.

Just give him 10-16 games to see if we actually have anything or if we just cut our losses at the end of the season.

 

[ant555]

I remember watching every minute of that metro country game and man was he poor that day. But he was coming back from his injuries to be fair so was impressed he even played. That said, looking back now, he didn’t like contact in that game, disposals were messy, and looked panicked at times. That’s translated unfortunately.

He does look very dynamic and far more explosive in the below vision then what we have seen to date. That’s what got me so excited. I just thought he was rusty:

The thing that has surprised me is the fact there has been limited outside run given he was doing it early in the season at under 18 level and was known for a bit of outside dash when he was coming though under 16 and bottom age.
You could probably live with the kicking and lack of physicality at times if he was breaking the lines.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

I wouldn’t say that he has shown “nothing”. He can clearly get his hands on the football.

Tbf in totally relative terms, being able to win the ball is close to “nothing” these days.

We’ve all been brought up on it from our junior days, make sure you can find and win your own footy.

It really means nothing these days at the elite level. There’s so much more required which is why the likes of Tsatas appear very limited.

There is literally hundreds of guys in the state leagues who can find the ball and would be able to at AFL level too. These days, without the good skills required to maintain team possession and the aerobic ability and IQ to transition effectively, it’s just not really relevant.

Good AFL mids can do all this, if you can’t you’re well below par.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

And part of the issue is as the game has evolved that way, the discourse has instead become so stat / SuperCoach / same game multi obsessed.

People see he has 35 touches in the VFL as the headline and of course you think it’s a really positive performance. I think the reality is the coaches wouldn’t really give two shits if he has 22 or 42 touches - they know he can win the ball as can everybody else - it’s just irrelevant.

 

[jdstorm]

And part of the issue is as the game has evolved that way, the discourse has instead become so stat / SuperCoach / same game multi obsessed.

People see he has 35 touches in the VFL as the headline and of course you think it’s a really positive performance. I think the reality is the coaches wouldn’t really give two shits if he has 22 or 42 touches - they know he can win the ball as can everybody else - it’s just irrelevant.

Let’s not get too anti accumulation. Contested possessions are still highly valuable. Tsatsas if you measure contested possesion per minute is among the competitions elite.

thing is you need a 2nd string to your bow. Must be a high work rate tackler or a good user.

Last year all Tsatsas did was CP and that’s not enough at afl level

 

[jannissary]

still working hard over the break.



his hands are ridiculously fast, i hope this season he’s let loose

 

[yodellinhank]

I wonder if Blakiston is training over the break.

 

[Old Campaigner]

The thing that has surprised me is the fact there has been limited outside run given he was doing it early in the season at under 18 level and was known for a bit of outside dash when he was coming though under 16 and bottom age.
You could probably live with the kicking and lack of physicality at times if he was breaking the lines.

I do wonder if his injuries have taken the edge off his pace, or he’s been told to adjust his action to avoid a repeat

 

[Vander18]

Setterfeild can’t break out of stoppage with speed.

He also can’t cover the ground as quickly as tsatas defensively either.

Not being a dick but honestly feel like we are watching two different players.

Setterfield certainly can’t exit a stoppage at speed but he can absorb pressure and dish off. I would argue Tsatas can’t do either.

Setterfield does run defensively….not quickly….but he does run back. Not sure Tsatas even pretends to do defensive running.

Anyway, one of is right and one of is wrong. Time will tell.

 

[ant555]

Not being a dick but honestly feel like we are watching two different players.

Setterfield certainly can’t exit a stoppage at speed but he can absorb pressure and dish off. I would argue Tsatas can’t do either.

Setterfield does run defensively….not quickly….but he does run back. Not sure Tsatas even pretends to do defensive running.

Anyway, one of is right and one of is wrong. Time will tell.

That is the issue isn't it.
Tsatas did use speed from stoppage in the early part of his under 18 season but really has not done it since and certainly has not shown it in any of his AFL games.

 

[ant555]

I do wonder if his injuries have taken the edge off his pace, or he’s been told to adjust his action to avoid a repeat

I really can not pin point it. Maybe injury. Maybe lack of confidence due to the fact when he runs on the outside he kicks like shit. Whatever it is he needs the solution or his AFL career will flame out.

 

[Keystone agony]

Usually pro longed hard work, works out, so i hope that is the case here

He is leaving no stone unturned it seems and that is a credit to his resilience and with the loss of Setters, Hobbs, Shiel, Martin he may get the most exposure next year

I do think if hes working so hard he would be running a very good 2km time trial when he returns in comparison to past years

Kicking the footy alot, as much as it needs work is an easy thing to do, everyone loves kicking the pill but not running

Unfortunately i see alot of his CPs that are coded alot like Naicos CPs expect he doesnt have the speed or skill anywhere near him. Theres alot of loose ball gets, by just sitting outside the contest

There is a spot for CP brutes that handball alot of the time, im just not sure hes that CP brute

Still think with our small midfield there is a spot to nullify big mids at the contest, basically Setterfields role

Id say his speed was over rated but also adding alot of kgs has stalled his speed as much as anything else

 

[Call Me Cake]

I really can not pin point it. Maybe injury. Maybe lack of confidence due to the fact when he runs on the outside he kicks like shit. Whatever it is he needs the solution or his AFL career will flame out.

He kicks pretty well on the outside. It's when he's under pressure that his kicking is affected. There's a difference when he has 3 seconds like in the training video to 1.1 seconds on the field. He also seems to be suffering from percieved pressure which rushes him to kick.

He needs to keep working at the muscle memory so that the composure when training becomes instinctual on the field and hopefully early on he'll find more time on the outside to perfect that (like how Jobe did when he honed in on his outside game to have more space/time to gain confidence in his kicking), and of course, continuity on the field.

 

[Lore]

I wonder if Blakiston is training over the break.

Probably but it’s still the off-season so we won’t see much unless he posts it himself, he goes to the club to use the gym and gets spotted by the social media guy, or he signs up for a third party training program where part of the cost is allowing them to use footage of him on their social media

 

[ant555]

He kicks pretty well on the outside. It's when he's under pressure that his kicking is affected. There's a difference when he has 3 seconds like in the training video to 1.1 seconds on the field. He also seems to be suffering from percieved pressure which rushes him to kick.

He needs to keep working at the muscle memory so that the composure when training becomes instinctual on the field and hopefully early on he'll find more time on the outside to perfect that (like how Jobe did when he honed in on his outside game to have more space/time to gain confidence in his kicking), and of course, continuity on the field on the field.

He kicks well when he is running half pace.

 

[kelvin_sheedy]

I wonder if Blakiston is training over the break.

Working in the mines at Kalgoorlie