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AFL Player 5: Elijah Tsatas

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ant555 said:
Hobbs has been very average the last 3 weeks but Tsatas as pressure forward would be a total train wreck.
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And this is where I have my beef with how we manage the team and players. Tsatas is a flawed player and he's expected to work on his flaws in the VFL because he needs to improve and he needs to do it in a way that doesn't impact the rest of the team. Hobbs is a flawed player, but he can play in the seniors doing a role that's the moon to him because we need to keep other players who need to work on their flaws in the VFL.
 
Nuggs Bunny said:
And this is where I have my beef with how we manage the team and players. Tsatas is a flawed player and he's expected to work on his flaws in the VFL because he needs to improve and he needs to do it in a way that doesn't impact the rest of the team. Hobbs is a flawed player, but he can play in the seniors doing a role that's the moon to him because we need to keep other players who need to work on their flaws in the VFL.
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Hobbs had been getting a game based on good pressure which we lacked. He had done a reasonable job. Obviously we need more players who can apply pressure. Hobbs should be in the gun based on his last 3 games but no one in the VFL is really pushing him out of the forward role. ADJ has been very plain. Unwin has only played a good 10 minutes here and there. Smartt could be the one but would have to find a lot defensively.
Tsatas doesn’t get a game because he has 4 midfielders in front of him. Hobbs gets a game because he has no one putting pressure on his spot. Same with Gresham.
 
Nuggs Bunny said:
And this is where I have my beef with how we manage the team and players. Tsatas is a flawed player and he's expected to work on his flaws in the VFL because he needs to improve and he needs to do it in a way that doesn't impact the rest of the team. Hobbs is a flawed player, but he can play in the seniors doing a role that's the moon to him because we need to keep other players who need to work on their flaws in the VFL.
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Tsatsas just isn’t physical enough. It’s a hard adjustment going up a level and going from being a star player where others do the dirty work for you to being a role player where that’s expected.
 

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fairbump_playon said:
Imagine trying to mark the ball when Parish has kicked it

He’s kicking knuckleballs.. weird spin & float
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Would rather not imagine it. I was never a great mark as it was.🙂😛
 
ant555 said:
Hobbs had been getting a game based on good pressure which we lacked. He had done a reasonable job. Obviously we need more players who can apply pressure. Hobbs should be in the gun based on his last 3 games but no one in the VFL is really pushing him out of the forward role. ADJ has been very plain. Unwin has only played a good 10 minutes here and there. Smartt could be the one but would have to find a lot defensively.
Tsatas doesn’t get a game because he has 4 midfielders in front of him. Hobbs gets a game because he has no one putting pressure on his spot. Same with Gresham.
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If we wanted Tsatas in the team and/or someone else (perhaps a mix of a few) to fill the pressure forward role we would make it happen, it might not even make the team better but it's possible and that's alright anyway because it's a draft pick season. We're prepared to shuffle the team around for some players, but not all of them. It's possible that using Hobbs for this example is just a bad red herring, Jones on the wing is a better example
 
ant555 said:
Are we expecting Tsatas to be the finished product? I just want to see more consistency in the areas he was poor in before he was drafted.
Hope he gets in next week but we could just as well break his confidence playing him at AFL level as well.
Watched him alone for a whole quarter (third quarter)live today. It is very noticeable when you stand near the fence how selective he is as far as going into the contest or just taking a few short steps.
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It wouldn't be the first time a midfielder (or hell a player) who is low on confidence didn't know whether to go in a contest or hold position.
 
Mercurial89 said:
It wouldn't be the first time a midfielder (or hell a player) who is low on confidence didn't know whether to go in a contest or hold position.
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Personally I do not think it was not knowing to go into the contest. Watching the body language it was more choosing not to go. The runner gave him a visit after he did not really go on one occasion in front of the bench. I was interested to see it up close which is why I just watched him for a quarter from the boundary. I will praise him when he does good stuff like the Brisbane game where he was okay for a guy who had 20 minutes of game time. His kicking today was okay. Did not really have many kicks under pressure but the ones he had in the open play he steadied and used it well other than one that he got more height than penetration. I really do think if he was less selective in his attack on the contest / physical game he would be in the side. It is clearly what is holding him back.
With Durham looking likely to be getting a holiday I hope he gets another crack this week and can prove me wrong but I did not get a great vibe off what I watched today.
 
Nuggs Bunny said:
If we wanted Tsatas in the team and/or someone else (perhaps a mix of a few) to fill the pressure forward role we would make it happen, it might not even make the team better but it's possible and that's alright anyway because it's a draft pick season. We're prepared to shuffle the team around for some players, but not all of them. It's possible that using Hobbs for this example is just a bad red herring, Jones on the wing is a better example
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Jones on a wing I could cop as an example. Do not like that at all and we could easily float Durham to a wing and Caldwell forward a bit to use Tsatas in the middle. As I said above I really do think it is the inconsistent attack on the contest and physical efforts that are keeping him out. People may not get a chance to do it or be in a position to do it but I would say going to a VFL game and watching him close up when he is on your side of the ground and through a good set of binoculars does reveal a few tell tale signs. It is something he can turn around if he can get the mental side of things working but I doubt it will ever be natural for him.
 
6 tackles in the vfl. I reckon parish had 6/7 of his tackles broken. Not sure I can remember a 6 tackle game for parish ever. Tsatas kicking in vfl doesn’t look great, but he has pretty good vision and hit a few targets inside 50.
 
FootyGuru said:
6 tackles in the vfl. I reckon parish had 6/7 of his tackles broken. Not sure I can remember a 6 tackle game for parish ever. Tsatas kicking in vfl doesn’t look great, but he has pretty good vision and hit a few targets inside 50.
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Two last year.
Five in 2023.
Four in 2022.
Not claiming they are great numbers or he is a good tackler.
 

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Tbh at this point, I just want him to get a run at it in the 1s for an extended period of time so that we can put all this back and forth discussion to bed.

If we are only playing him as a stoppage mid at VFL level - then we ought to see if he can play that role at AFL level at some point.
 

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FlyingV said:
Tbh at this point, I just want him to get a run at it in the 1s for an extended period of time so that we can put all this back and forth discussion to bed.

If we are only playing him as a stoppage mid at VFL level - then we ought to see if he can play that role at AFL level at some point.
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Hi all. First time posting in this thread.

Personally, I disagree with this sentiment that he should just get a go ‘to see what he can do etc’. Yes, he was pick 5, but I don’t think the club really cares anymore if he was pick 5 of pick 55, they’ve had years to see what he can/can’t do and the fact that he still plays vfl speaks volumes.

Having 30 or 40 touches in the vfl clearly isn’t all he has to do otherwise he’d be in the seniors. Obviously it’s between him and the coaches but they must be asking him to do stuff and he isn’t doing it. Hence, why would they play him in the seniors if he doesn’t do what they want, and isn’t good enough by their judgement?

Despite not being that good, the club keeps saying how they want to win every week and they won’t do that by picking players that aren’t up to it, even if they were pick 5.
 
Yeh I’m not about just “giving him a run and see how he goes”. He has had plenty of opportunities and has proven he is not up to it (yet). Dominating VFL might not be the worst thing for him. Another preseason, a string of games together in the VFL to finish the year and a stronger frame heading in to 2026 might be the catalyst for the next step.
 
You'd just play him at this point wouldn't you? One way or the other?
 
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