AFL Player 5: Elijah Tsatas

[Nuggs Bunny]

 

[thepokey]

Very impressive tonight

 

[Lance Uppercut]

10 clearances…

 

[eDPS]

10 clearances…

Also game high in disposals/contested possessions and lead us for metres gained. Kicking has improved a lot but still some work to be done in general which is hopefully worked on as he gets more senior game time and strength.

 

[Petrify]

Didn't notice a single bad kick. Did notice a few bad handballs but that's to be expected from any inside mid

 

[JayJ20]

I think he's ready to burst onto the AFL scene. If that is his base then we have a good player. Was a lot more competitive today as well.

 

[Vander18]

There was still a lot not to like about his first half - was more low impact, bruise free footy for mine.

BUT….second half was better and the last quarter was the best we’ve seen from him. Clean hands and was more competitive around the contest. Hopefully he can build on that.

Let’s not set a low bar for his kicking. Might look ok but did he hit a single target by foot?

 

[Shueygod]

There was still a lot not to like about his first half - was more low impact, bruise free footy for mine.

BUT….second half was better and the last quarter was the best we’ve seen from him. Clean hands and was more competitive around the contest. Hopefully he can build on that.

Let’s not set a low bar for his kicking. Might look ok but did he hit a single target by foot?

****ing lol, did you watch the match. Hitting targets left and right, particularly surprised you don’t remember the strong Kako mark from a good hit up.

Was a huge game for the boy.

 

[Vander18]

****ing lol, did you watch the match. Hitting targets left and right, particularly surprised you don’t remember the strong Kako mark from a good hit up.

Was a huge game for the boy.

Was absolutely not hitting targets left and right. If he hit one or two and I missed it then apologies.

I acknowledged the good but I’m realistic about what I see. He’s a flawed footballer - he has a strength which is swooping on hit outs to advantage or loose balls. He is clean at times and also distributes nicely by hand at times. There is a heap of stuff he doesn’t do well or doesn’t do at all.

His first half was very ordinary. Hope he builds on what we saw in the last.

 

[Yoda_]

Was absolutely not hitting targets left and right. If he hit one or two and I missed it then apologies.

I acknowledged the good but I’m realistic about what I see. He’s a flawed footballer - he has a strength which is swooping on hit outs to advantage or loose balls. He is clean at times and also distributes nicely by hand at times. There is a heap of stuff he doesn’t do well or doesn’t do at all.

His first half was very ordinary. Hope he builds on what we saw in the last.

came to say something similar.

For the over enthusiasm on Elijah, he had 14 in the first half, cant say it was an explosive "wow" count.

My gripe is full time midfielder and he's laid 1 tackle.

 

[IHurley]

came to say something similar.

For the over enthusiasm on Elijah, he had 14 in the first half, cant say it was an explosive "wow" count.

My gripe is full time midfielder and he's laid 1 tackle.

He had 10 clearances. Should he have handed the ball to Geelong so he could tackle them?

He's not Matt Rowell and his defensive positioning is a work in progress but I didn't see him shy away from contact.

 

[DERO]

came to say something similar.

For the over enthusiasm on Elijah, he had 14 in the first half, cant say it was an explosive "wow" count.

My gripe is full time midfielder and he's laid 1 tackle.

Tsatas played like a bloke who would return a van.

 

[I Remember Bluey]

https://www.essendonfc.com.au/video/1252637/draft-profile-elijah-tsatas?videoId=1252637&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1669624824001

Reminder, correct pronunciation. Tsatas = Sar-Tas.

 

[Vander18]

https://www.essendonfc.com.au/video/1252637/draft-profile-elijah-tsatas?videoId=1252637&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1669624824001

Reminder, correct pronunciation. Tsatas = Sar-Tas.

Not Shart-ass?

 

[Runk]

I'm so confused....

Did he have a good game or not? It appears he did but the conjecture in here tells me Essendon supporters are cooked.

 

[dank420_]

I'm so confused....

Did he have a good game or not? It appears he did but the conjecture in here tells me Essendon supporters are cooked.

He had a good one.

I think there's still a few who are eagle-eyeing his mistakes. My brother texted me saying he's still a spud... wtf

 

[doug85]

There was still a lot not to like about his first half - was more low impact, bruise free footy for mine.

BUT….second half was better and the last quarter was the best we’ve seen from him. Clean hands and was more competitive around the contest. Hopefully he can build on that.

Let’s not set a low bar for his kicking. Might look ok but did he hit a single target by foot?

I certainly noticed a couple of short steps. But I think he can work through it. I don’t think his disposal was too bad. Hobbs was far worse

 

[Vander18]

I'm so confused....

Did he have a good game or not? It appears he did but the conjecture in here tells me Essendon supporters are cooked.

It means footy is no different to any other part of life - multiple people can look at the same thing but perceive it in different ways.

Watching for yourself is the only way out of this vortex!

 

[faible]

He had a good one.

I think there's still a few who are eagle-eyeing his mistakes. My brother texted me saying he's still a spud... wtf

People look for what they want to see; if you're looking for what he's doing wrong, you'll only see what he's doing wrong, and vice versa.

Can be hard to step back from a position and say 'yep, I still saw some of the bad, but also saw some good things'.

He's a young bloke, first full pre-season, that has some things he looks to do very nicely - winning clearances at will in the VFL seems to translate to AFL level - but things he doesn't do so well - kicking, defensive work.

The positive thing is that a. his clearance winning seems to translate 'up' a level, and b. his kicking has genuinely improved.

He's showing a clear willingness to work on his deficiencies.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Was interested how he’d go against a decent Cats mid and thought he’d played well again on top of last week. Still learning the game but seems to have right attitude training wise from Scott’s praise

 

[Mercurial89]

People look for what they want to see; if you're looking for what he's doing wrong, you'll only see what he's doing wrong, and vice versa.

Can be hard to step back from a position and say 'yep, I still saw some of the bad, but also saw some good things'.

He's a young bloke, first full pre-season, that has some things he looks to do very nicely - winning clearances at will in the VFL seems to translate to AFL level - but things he doesn't do so well - kicking, defensive work.

The positive thing is that a. his clearance winning seems to translate 'up' a level, and b. his kicking has genuinely improved.

He's showing a clear willingness to work on his deficiencies.

As a vocal critic of his kicking I thought he looked pretty exciting.

The one issue I had was actually not even related to when he had the ball.
Was when he was caught standing near a team mate with the ball and was calling for a 1m handpass or just getting in their way.
Happened a few times and showed that he's still not 100% comfortable which is good news because he looks miles better than what he did last year.

 

[Old Campaigner]

Just judging by highlights so not a representative sample but he looks like he’s gone from a guy who’s kicking is a liability to one for whom it isn’t a strength

 

[ant555]

He frustrates me but it is to do with me likely the players who play on the edge in all aspects.
He was very good. Clearance and contested footy offensively was really good. Stoppage work was good. Kicking was generally okay. He is creative by had.
What annoys me is 3 times he could have blocked for an opponent after giving off a handball but he did a Stanton and just ran forward to a dumb spot calling for the ball back. And several times he was selective as far as making an effort to tackle someone. 1 tackle for the game was not good enough.
It is what it is I guess. He is a ball winner and the physical pressure side is not in his nature.

 

[JayJ20]

I like this stat from the Geelong board:

Bowes, Knevitt, Holmes, Atkins, and Stewart combined had - 80 CBAs with 7 centre clearances.

Tsatas 26 CBA's with 8 centre clearances.

Was very dominant in there.

 

[katana]

function of ruck dominance and good fortune is the centre break.

we were top 4 on average for that stat last year with such elite sides as north melbourne and carlton.

imo it's him or parish.

 

[P Money]

He frustrates me but it is to do with me likely the players who play on the edge in all aspects.
He was very good. Clearance and contested footy offensively was really good. Stoppage work was good. Kicking was generally okay. He is creative by had.
What annoys me is 3 times he could have blocked for an opponent after giving off a handball but he did a Stanton and just ran forward to a dumb spot calling for the ball back. And several times he was selective as far as making an effort to tackle someone. 1 tackle for the game was not good enough.
It is what it is I guess. He is a ball winner and the physical pressure side is not in his nature.

Agree with your observations but he has plenty of time. May not be his natural instinct but once he's comfortable at the level there's nothing to say he can't broaden his focus and improve on those things. He's had (and still has) a lot to work on, difficult to improve in every area all at once.