AFL Player # 5: Elijah Tsatas

[TheGrizz]

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

 

[Foxx]

Seems to be an in-betweener. Has outside midfielder physical attributes, but not the skills.
Has inside midfielders skills, but not yet physical attributes.

I think the inside mid will be easier for him to craft. Win it on the inside and take the easy option every time. Do the same when he's on the outside.
I don't see his kicking skills being anywhere good enough to be an outside mid.

 

[katana]

If he was kicking predominantly then you'd worry but he had more handballs than kicks.

If we learn to utilise his (and everyone else's) strengths to the betterment of the team then we absolutely have an AFL player on our hands.

what are his strengths?

 

[katana]

Thanks for the stats.

And just to confirm. Oliver was on the wing rather than inside mid for all his 1st year games right?

There's things for Tsatas to work on sure and our current AFL mid set up is working very well. Hence why Tsatas is learning in the VFL - nothing wrong with that. But this talk about his selection being a mistake is half mad, half insane lunacy. Players with his coordination, play reading, athleticism and drive are generation players. Nothing against Durham or Ridley but I'd be giving Tsatas a 5 year extension right now over them.

no oliver was an inside mid straight away. or at least his team played him there.

 

[yodellinhank]

Interesting to know that half of our board would have desisted Clayton Oliver after his first season.

Tsatas is 19 and has the second best hands in the comp. He's also quick. He'll be a top 5 player in the comp and half of our supporters want him shipped off for a 4th rounder.

Who said anything about holding out for a 4th rounder? It's that kind of mentality that has seen us stuck with Shiel again.

 

[FlyingV]

TBH I’m just stoked he’s getting a good run at it with his body and is playing/developing in his preferred position. he has missed too much footy to be mucking around with him on wings/sub for the time being. Massive step forward yesterdays game

 

[Just A Tragic]

Let him bang the door down from the VFL in his prime position. It's clear what he is. Let's develop that and not worry too much about his alternate positions for now.

I for one am excited about what he will bring the midfield mix and glad we have a future developing.

Tsatas, Hobbs, Duz, Caldwell, Martin

There's a good future there.

 

[IHurley]

no oliver was an inside mid straight away. or at least his team played him there.

Ummm, thanks.

 

[ant555]

Tsatas is still growing in to his body, looks to have a frame capable of carrying a significant amount of weight (like Jobe) and is a long way from the finished product physically.

He’s not Judd who was a star from his first game which seems to be what people expect. GAJ wasn’t a star midfielder until his 6th season at Geelong and ended up close to being the best who’s ever played the game.

Not all players are on the same timeline.

But he has to be great straight away because he was a top 10 pick

 

[rumply]

Plenty of work in the middle, looked good.

 

[yodellinhank]

Geez, they cut a lot of the vision on those kicks short. Pretty sure this is how most people watch him.

 

[eth-dog]

Great game. Love seeing him out there.

 

[Rick Ross]

We don’t need him playing ones at the moment. Our senior midfield is flying. I’m happy to give Tsatas another 18 months to start seriously putting it together.

This is it…

• No need to get him into the 1’s midfield right now
• Plenty for him to work on in the 2nds

 

[bombreys]

Geez, they cut a lot of the vision on those kicks short. Pretty sure this is how most people watch him.

Agreed. The stat sheet doesn't always tell the story and this is one of those times. The leather poisoning is definitely encouraging, but he did make plenty of errors.

I think his kicking looks quite a bit better in the AFL than it does in the twos.

 

[justlookingaround]

Speaking as someone who is also s**t kick - there's still hope for Lij, I've doubled my body mass since the age of 19 and no doubt he can do the same!

 

[noobermensch]

Elijah was immense in this game, impacting stoppages releasing his teammates with intelligent and creative handballs, and raising his game when it was there to be won late.

Kid just needs to learn how to kick!

 

[MiguelM]

Elijah was immense in this game, impacting stoppages releasing his teammates with intelligent and creative handballs, and raising his game when it was there to be won late.

Kid just needs to learn how to kick!

That is some game!

He shanked a few but his kicking can be fixed IMO. Seems worse when he rushes which will improve as he picks up the pace of the game.

He is going to be some player. Should come in off the back of that.

 

[cAsEy_18]

That is some game!

He shanked a few but his kicking can be fixed IMO. Seems worse when he rushes which will improve as he picks up the pace of the game.

He is going to be some player. Should come in off the back of that.

He just doesn't have a spot at the moment. What he's good at, we just simply don't need at the moment in the AFL.

And it can't be as simple as "Well, he's better than Hind" just as an example. Sure, he is. But that doesn't mean we should drop Hind for Tsatas to only coming in and play that high-half forward role which he's not suited to and not good at. Makes more sense to bring in a Guelfi or obviously Perkins for Hind and/or Davey in terms of the role they play.

Let Tsatas keep doing his thing in the VFL. An injury to a Parish, Durham, Caldwell comes up, then sure - bring him in.

 

[MiguelM]

He just doesn't have a spot at the moment. What he's good at, we just simply don't need at the moment in the AFL.

And it can't be as simple as "Well, he's better than Hind" just as an example. Sure, he is. But that doesn't mean we should drop Hind for Tsatas to only coming in and play that high-half forward role which he's not suited to and not good at. Makes more sense to bring in a Guelfi or obviously Perkins for Hind and/or Davey in terms of the role they play.

Let Tsatas keep doing his thing in the VFL. An injury to a Parish, Durham, Caldwell comes up, then sure - bring him in.

Lets see what the match committee do.

Edit: IMO could come in for Hobbs who is VFL pace atm.

 

[cAsEy_18]

Lets see what the match committee do.

Edit: IMO could come in for Hobbs who is VFL pace atm.

Hobbs is also playing that half-forward role though. He certainly hasn't set the world on fire, but they are actually two guys in a very similar situation. Best suited to being an in-and-under midfielder, but there isn't the spot there at the moment in the AFL team. So they can either play VFL midfield, or come in and play a high-half forward role in the AFL which doesn't really suit either of them - although Hobbs has probably slightly more runs on the board in this regard.

This isn't meant to be a knock on Tsatas, just more trying to logically say that the team needs to be picked based on balance and roles, not just the best 22/23 names on paper. The fact that Tsatas got his first hands on the ball a lot in the VFL and helped contribute to the win is great. But it's just not what the AFL team needs right now, and not the role he'll get the opportunity to play if he is brought in.

 

[faible]

Hobbs is also playing that half-forward role though. He certainly hasn't set the world on fire, but they are actually two guys in a very similar situation. Best suited to being an in-and-under midfielder, but there isn't the spot there at the moment in the AFL team. So they can either play VFL midfield, or come in and play a high-half forward role in the AFL which doesn't really suit either of them - although Hobbs has probably slightly more runs on the board in this regard.

This isn't meant to be a knock on Tsatas, just more trying to logically say that the team needs to be picked based on balance and roles, not just the best 22/23 names on paper. The fact that Tsatas got his first hands on the ball a lot in the VFL and helped contribute to the win is great. But it's just not what the AFL team needs right now, and not the role he'll get the opportunity to play if he is brought in.

If Tsatas is to come in and play full-time midfield he has to dislodge; Durham, Caldwell, Parish and then Stringer and Perkins can both go in to the middle.

Physically he's still a long way from the finished product, let him marinate in the VFL and hone his midfield craft while he adds size to a frame that looks like it'll carry weight very well.

 

[Squeaky]

That is some game!

He shanked a few but his kicking can be fixed IMO. Seems worse when he rushes which will improve as he picks up the pace of the game.

He is going to be some player. Should come in off the back of that.

I reckon most of his kicks were marked by the oppo...

 

[doug85]

He just doesn't have a spot at the moment. What he's good at, we just simply don't need at the moment in the AFL.

And it can't be as simple as "Well, he's better than Hind" just as an example. Sure, he is. But that doesn't mean we should drop Hind for Tsatas to only coming in and play that high-half forward role which he's not suited to and not good at. Makes more sense to bring in a Guelfi or obviously Perkins for Hind and/or Davey in terms of the role they play.

Let Tsatas keep doing his thing in the VFL. An injury to a Parish, Durham, Caldwell comes up, then sure - bring him in.

Really makes me wonder why we drafted him, even though he’s clearly talented

 

[MiguelM]

I reckon most of his kicks were marked by the oppo...

lol, yeah, but that is fixable.

 

[MiguelM]

If Tsatas is to come in and play full-time midfield he has to dislodge; Durham, Caldwell, Parish and then Stringer and Perkins can both go in to the middle.

Physically he's still a long way from the finished product, let him marinate in the VFL and hone his midfield craft while he adds size to a frame that looks like it'll carry weight very well.

A marinated Tsatas!

Sounds like something off a menu! I like it.

 

[bombreys]

If Tsatas is to come in and play full-time midfield he has to dislodge; Durham, Caldwell, Parish and then Stringer and Perkins can both go in to the middle.

Physically he's still a long way from the finished product, let him marinate in the VFL and hone his midfield craft while he adds size to a frame that looks like it'll carry weight very well.

I think there needs to be a balance too - he might have to play some AFL time on the wing at stages. I don't think you can keep him in the VFL for too long if he's regularly getting 40 stats a game. One of our midfielders will get injured throughout the year and we should be able to get him into the middle then.

On that note, we've actually had a pretty good run with injuries - aside from Ridley, we've only really had VFL players out for longer than a couple of weeks.