AFL Player # 5: Elijah Tsatas - Signs a two-year extension! - 22/2

[TheGrizz]

Contract Status: Out of contract 2026
2024 My Boy Draft: Pick 14, Lore

 

[Call Me Cake]

I see a young midfielder who didn't get much of 2023 under his belt, having not even played a senior match in 2024, with some improvement needed but a higher ceiling than Ginbey or Pou.

I reckon we should probably wait until we see him string a good chunk of a season or two together before we judge his potential.

 

[andleanback]

Yep . If anyone is expecting inside grunt then they have the wrong bloke.
Think more Adam Treloar.
Burst away from stoppage or quick hands .

Hobbs is a grunt player. Tsatas is definitely not and has never been.

 

[Lore]

Sack Scott.

Might sack you

 

[citizen-erased]

Doubt Brad Scott particularly wanted him because of anything to do with Twomey. At the time Scott had been here for about five seconds. Drafting Tsatas instead of Philippou is still the only 2022 offseason decision that he’s been credited with influencing.

Thankfully.

 

[Vander18]

He’s not a grunt midfielder, he’s a burst power midfielder

If you’re inside you need grunt.

How are you bursting without it?

 

[ant555]

If you’re inside you need grunt.

How are you bursting without it?

Speed.Reflexes.
Like I have said before , think Adam Treloar or a slightly bigger Parish .
Not all clearance players are animals.
I preferred Phillipou because he was more physical even though he was not the midfield Tsatas was .
His under 18 numbers do not lie. He is a clearance player.

 

[citizen-erased]

Speed.Reflexes.
Like I have said before , think Adam Treloar or a slightly bigger Parish .
Not all clearance players are animals.
I preferred Phillipou because he was more physical even though he was not the midfield Tsatas was .

Bigger parish is how ive been seeing him
I may end up with egg on my face, but I don't see dominant mid with phillipou. Looks more quality marking fwd for mine (not that we didnt need one), but if tsatas = also drafting caddy, im ok with that.

I think i was humphrey, then tsatas...possibly had mackenzie and ginbey in between.

Of recent draft hauls though, the two we've taken strike me as the ones ive been waiting for - proper game changers

 

[The Prosecutor]

Speed.Reflexes.
Like I have said before , think Adam Treloar or a slightly bigger Parish .
Not all clearance players are animals.
I preferred Phillipou because he was more physical even though he was not the midfield Tsatas was .
His under 18 numbers do not lie. He is a clearance player.

I see him as a more explosive version of Jackson Macrae but with worse disposal.

 

[Vander18]

Speed.Reflexes.
Like I have said before , think Adam Treloar or a slightly bigger Parish .
Not all clearance players are animals.
I preferred Phillipou because he was more physical even though he was not the midfield Tsatas was .
His under 18 numbers do not lie. He is a clearance player.

Think we are talking about two different things.

I understand the type of player he is….you’re correct - he’s not a beast. But if you are playing inside, whatever the role, you can’t have an issue with body contact. You don’t have to be Cripps but you have to be able to absorb it to some extent. Treloar is a good example - not an animal but also can deal with it sufficiently that he can be effective. It’s not his one wood, but he can deal with it.

I’m not going to going to slander a young bloke who is clearly working his tail off…..but right now he looks jumpy when there is heat around him and doesn’t use some of his very obvious traits - specifically his leg power - to get through contests. Thats what I mean by grunt.

 

[BrunoV]

Sorry, but I don’t see how a guy with his kicking action goes top 5 in a draft.

It's pretty easy to understand once you realise that 75% of the industry doesn't really watch the ball leave the boot or hand of a midfielder in possession, or just assumes that every shoddy disposal is the result of pressure.

 

[DERO]

Might sack you

In keeping with the Easendon way! Get rid of anyone that dares to challenge the status quo!

 

[ant555]

Think we are talking about two different things.

I understand the type of player he is….you’re correct - he’s not a beast. But if you are playing inside, whatever the role, you can’t have an issue with body contact. You don’t have to be Cripps but you have to be able to absorb it to some extent. Treloar is a good example - not an animal but also can deal with it sufficiently that he can be effective. It’s not his one wood, but he can deal with it.

I’m not going to going to slander a young bloke who is clearly working his tail off…..but right now he looks jumpy when there is heat around him and doesn’t use some of his very obvious traits - specifically his leg power - to get through contests. Thats what I mean by grunt.

Your explanation of grunt is obviously different.
Not arguing he needs to be more physical but he is a kid that has had a very limited preparation in the last two years and at his top in his op age year he had no issues with body contact when it came to stoppage.
Right now he does need to develop more physically for sure.
Maybe he can . Maybe he will not.
That is why I was more Phillipou .

 

[ant555]

It's pretty easy to understand once you realise that 75% of the industry doesn't really watch the ball leave the boot or hand of a midfielder in possession, or just assumes that every shoddy disposal is the result of pressure.

And the sad point is you are serious. I do not know why you do not have your own recruitment site given you are smarter than everyone in the industry.
I will give you a tip . Recruiters do watch . The issue is they gamble on what they think they can fix .
Anyway looking forward to one day seeing your expert draft predictions before a draft given the industry has no idea .

 

[BrunoV]

Think we are talking about two different things.

I understand the type of player he is….you’re correct - he’s not a beast. But if you are playing inside, whatever the role, you can’t have an issue with body contact. You don’t have to be Cripps but you have to be able to absorb it to some extent. Treloar is a good example - not an animal but also can deal with it sufficiently that he can be effective. It’s not his one wood, but he can deal with it.

I’m not going to going to slander a young bloke who is clearly working his tail off…..but right now he looks jumpy when there is heat around him and doesn’t use some of his very obvious traits - specifically his leg power - to get through contests. Thats what I mean by grunt.

Unless you play for Essendon.

Its a unique job profile. Inside mids that are not physical.

 

[DERO]

Unless you play for Essendon.

Its a unique job profile. Inside mids that are not physical.

 

[citizen-erased]

Perhaps grunt was not the right term.
Explosive?
i see a kid that will build confidence in his running power and his natural ball hunting ability to be what we've needed
A bigger, taller, running power mid who can get ball and carry it for substantial part of the game vs stringer, who is a grunt beast for short bursts

 

[Vander18]

And the sad point is you are serious. I do not know why you do not have your own recruitment site given you are smarter than everyone in the industry.
I will give you a tip . Recruiters do watch . The issue is they gamble on what they think they can fix .
Anyway looking forward to one day seeing your expert draft predictions before a draft given the industry has no idea .

Not sure this is fair.

I feel like there will be a Moneyball type epiphany coming for the industry at some point when they work out how to really apply value to possessions and impact.

There is certainly a large cohort of pundits who l over emphasise possessions and under emphasise impact.

 

[ant555]

Not sure this is fair.

I feel like there will be a Moneyball type epiphany coming for the industry at some point when they work out how to really apply value to possessions and impact.

There is certainly a large cohort of pundits who l over emphasise possessions and under emphasise impact.

I was arguing against the comment that 75% of the industry (recruiting) do not look at ball drop and just call it pressure. Total rubbish call. They look.100% they look and look at it live and over and over on replay. Like I said the risk is they take the punt on what they think they can fix.

 

[Milanista28]

I think he should be attending 30% of center bounces in his games this year.

 

[Vander18]

I was arguing against the comment that 75% of the industry (recruiting) do not look at ball drop and just call it pressure. Total rubbish call. They look.100% they look and look at it live and over and over on replay. Like I said the risk is they take the punt on what they think they can fix.

Get it - and I can’t really speak to that as don’t have your proximity to the recruiting industry. I assumed we were talking more broadly.

My point is that as a whole (beyond just recruiting) we haven’t worked out how to really effectively, statistically asses player impact. We still seem to place excessive value on possession numbers over outcomes. And when we do assess outcomes it’s pretty shallow (DE). Wish someone would come up with a statistical measure or rating that effectively illustrates the yawning chasm between say Mark Mercuri and Tom Mitchell.

 

[ant555]

Get it - and I can’t really speak to that as don’t have your proximity to the recruiting industry. I assumed we were talking more broadly.

My point is that as a whole (beyond just recruiting) we haven’t worked out how to really effectively, statistically asses player impact. We still seem to place excessive value on possession numbers over outcomes. And when we do assess outcomes it’s pretty shallow (DE). Wish someone would come up with a statistical measure or rating that effectively illustrates the yawning chasm between say Mark Mercuri and Tom Mitchell.

Agree it is a bit too stats driven . That is why I like listening to guys like Buckley who questions the value of some 40 possession games.
Using Friday as an example Tsatas had it 24 times but would most people have noticed he had 24 until the looked at the stats page ?

 

[MiguelM]

Get it - and I can’t really speak to that as don’t have your proximity to the recruiting industry. I assumed we were talking more broadly.

My point is that as a whole (beyond just recruiting) we haven’t worked out how to really effectively, statistically asses player impact. We still seem to place excessive value on possession numbers over outcomes. And when we do assess outcomes it’s pretty shallow (DE). Wish someone would come up with a statistical measure or rating that effectively illustrates the yawning chasm between say Mark Mercuri and Tom Mitchell.

Ah Merc's, saw his whole career, only needed 10 touches to seriously impact a game!

We could do with a clone of him now

 

[Lore]

Get it - and I can’t really speak to that as don’t have your proximity to the recruiting industry. I assumed we were talking more broadly.

My point is that as a whole (beyond just recruiting) we haven’t worked out how to really effectively, statistically asses player impact. We still seem to place excessive value on possession numbers over outcomes. And when we do assess outcomes it’s pretty shallow (DE). Wish someone would come up with a statistical measure or rating that effectively illustrates the yawning chasm between say Mark Mercuri and Tom Mitchell.

Champion data has a lot more than what the general public gets for free. I think Essendon is now paying for the full access but not every club/coach does… what we get on the outside is definitely shallow and simplistic though

 

[ant555]

Champion data has a lot more than what the general public gets for free. I think Essendon is now paying for the full access but not every club/coach does… what we get on the outside is definitely shallow and simplistic though

It is interesting that some clubs do not. I can say that as a fan I would expect they would pay for the full service because I have seen the level available. Just seems common sense to me. To have the full picture personally I think you need the best stats you can get. See the games live and also have a good level of replay .

 

[Lore]

It is interesting that some clubs do not. I can say that as a fan I would expect they would pay for the full service because I have seen the level available. Just seems common sense to me. To have the full picture personally I think you need the best stats you can get. See the games live and also have a good level of replay .

It would come out of the footy department soft cap, so the choice is probably stats package or welfare people or a more expensive head coach or a chartered flight to woo a free agent… but yeah. Bit stupid that these are the choices clubs have to make.