AFL Player 5: Elijah Tsatas - dropped 😱

[Nuggs Bunny]

 

[ant555]

It's all a bit strange. He was rated very highly for the entirety of his draft year despite injuries. Maybe with less injuries and more exposed form he might've dropped down the rankings a bit. Weirdly none of the draft profiles picked up his kicking as an issue, and from memory one of them noted it was a strength.

I am a bit suspicious that the opinions of recruiters might play into some people's rankings somewhat as well, so if recruiter A can't stop talking up a particular player it might push that player up a few spots.

Second hand opinion but one full time recruiter I spoke to did say if he had more top age exposure some of the flaws would have been exposed and he may have slid down to a later first round position ( 12-15).

 

[ant555]

Big no for me at half back. One of our biggest issues has been turnovers coming out of defence and going inside 50.
His kicking issues simply not good enough for that role.
We have drafted a few really good kicks to fill half back.
Second to that is he is poor defensively.

Not sure as a forward. His set shots from 40 in are okay. He can mark on the lead. Would have together a lot better pressure wise.

 

[King Patty]

Big no for me at half back. One of our biggest issues has been turnovers coming out of defence and going inside 50.
His kicking issues simply not good enough for that role.
We have drafted a few really good kicks to fill half back.
Second to that is he is poor defensively.

Not sure as a forward. His set shots from 40 in are okay. He can mark on the lead. Would have together a lot better pressure wise.

yep he's not getting a go at half back while we have guys like
Farrow, Johnson, Clarke, Kondogiannis who are all good users.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Essendon list management didn’t see the game changing. Two inside mids in consecutive drafts. Look at how far sharp fell after being widely considered the most credentialed draftee.

Simply there isn’t the roles there used to be for this type of player. If you look around the league, generally the teams offensive inside mid is also a defensive tough nut tackler too. Tsatas isn’t like that currently, but I don’t think it’s a stretch that he can add it to an acceptable level. People harp on his kicking but I think it’s at an acceptable level for an inside midfielder currently.

If we put tsatas in our midfield and played him solid game Time he would put up similar stats to most other top mids in the league but now if you ain’t providing much on the outside and you can’t play multiple positions you better be a maniac tackler

100% this. Ball accumulators who can do little else aren’t really a thing in the AFL at the moment.

 

[ant555]

The talk about us selecting Tsatas on the basis of him being an inside ball winner is wrong.
Yes he has inside ball winning ability but he was considered a player who could also break the lines.
That is why we drafted him.
That was the attraction.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Half back?? God help us

 

[FootyGuru]

The talk about us selecting Tsatas on the basis of him being an inside ball winner is wrong.
Yes he has inside ball winning ability but he was considered a player who could also break the lines.
That is why we drafted him.
That was the attraction.

It was both though. He was an inside outside mid in his draft year. He could clear the ball, breakaway at stoppage and he could also follow up. He can still do those things but his breakaway speed not visible playing as an inside midfielder, and his kicking hasn’t been good enough to play outside mid. Hes more Dylan Shiel than Jobe Watson.

I’ve still got hope for him because he does have speed.

 

[King Patty]

I’ve still got hope for him because he does have speed.

The position he sucks at but he could play if decision making competitiveness and kicking were ok would be the wing.
Play on the skinny side, so he's like an extra midfielder. But can breakaway with pace and *hit a target.
His fitness was sub standard initially due to limited preseason and injuries. So no hope for that role.
But now maybe he would be a chance if Fiorrini/Prior/Duursma went down.
His kicking lacking penetration is a bit of a issue for that position too i guess, and ability to take contested marks, not really his forte.

And we also could just put Farrow, Clarke, Johnson Roberts out on the wing also... just depends if we don't want to change other structures I guess.

Look at Fiorinni originally he was an inside mid, now he is a decent winger due to fitness, work rate and commiting to the role.

 

[FootyGuru]

The position he sucks at but he could play if decision making competitiveness and kicking were ok would be the wing.
Play on the skinny side, so he's like an extra midfielder. But can breakaway with pace and *hit a target.
His fitness was sub standard initially due to limited preseason and injuries. So no hope for that role.
But now maybe he would be a chance if Fiorrini/Prior/Duursma went down.
His kicking lacking penetration is a bit of a issue for that position too i guess, and ability to take contested marks, not really his forte.

And we also could just put Farrow, Clarke, Johnson Roberts out on the wing also... just depends if we don't want to change other structures I guess.

Look at Fiorinni originally he was an inside mid, now he is a decent winger due to fitness, work rate and commiting to the role.

I can see what you’re saying, but our list is getting too talented to shoehorn him into a position. I just think we play him inside mid, and just see if we get a serious injury to parish Caldwell Durham then play him and see what it looks like.

Also I always read your posts I feel like we think pretty similarly with modern footy.

In terms of the skinny wing, I’d love to see Roberts play that role. He has the strength, hardness and defensive prowess to defend that space, but also the composure under pressure to potentially turn a defensive possession into a positive one, instead of just another dtl

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Here’s a tremendously random and stupid suggestion… does he have small hands or something? He looks like your classic case of that kicking-wise.

His ball drop is vomit-worthy. He doesn’t put it on his foot, it just falls out of his hand. It’s like he has zero control of it once his left hand leaves the ball.

 

[ant555]

It was both though. He was an inside outside mid in his draft year. He could clear the ball, breakaway at stoppage and he could also follow up. He can still do those things but his breakaway speed not visible playing as an inside midfielder, and his kicking hasn’t been good enough to play outside mid. Hes more Dylan Shiel than Jobe Watson.

I’ve still got hope for him because he does have speed.

Without debating which quality we liked the most it is still wrong to say we did not read where the game was going as one of the qualities was his potential to use his speed on the outside.

Even though I was not a fan, I still thought he had the scope to play in a similar way to Adam Treloar.

Issue for me is he has shown virtually none of the outside game. Until he starts breaking the lines there will be 5 or 6 in front of him.

Can he ? Maybe. Maybe not. Is his endurance good enough that he can get on the outside on a regular basis and not just drift to contests?
Has the kicking on the run issue killed off any confidence he had to do it?

If he gets the outside run he showed early in his under 18 season then the lack of physicality and the kicking issues become less of a problem overall.

 

[Milanista28]

Here’s a tremendously random and stupid suggestion… does he have small hands or something? He looks like your classic case of that kicking-wise.

His ball drop is vomit-worthy. He doesn’t put it on his foot, it just falls out of his hand. It’s like he has zero control of it once his left hand leaves the ball.

I actually remember thinking he has big hands lol. He's very clean at ground level.

 

[King Patty]

His hands make the footy look small.

 

[FootyGuru]

Without debating which quality we liked the most it is still wrong to say we did not read where the game was going as one of the qualities was his potential to use his speed on the outside.

Even though I was not a fan, I still thought he had the scope to play in a similar way to Adam Treloar.

Issue for me is he has shown virtually none of the outside game. Until he starts breaking the lines there will be 5 or 6 in front of him.

Can he ? Maybe. Maybe not. Is his endurance good enough that he can get on the outside on a regular basis and not just drift to contests?
Has the kicking on the run issue killed off any confidence he had to do it?

If he gets the outside run he showed early in his under 18 season then the lack of physicality and the kicking issues become less of a problem overall.

I think where things stand Essendon didn’t read the way the games changing. We weren’t alone. The afl don’t give much notice on rule changes or interpretations.

We took two inside mids with questionable tanks and skills with our top picks. Yes it’s revisionist and also the old regime but we got it wrong.

 

[MPMonkeys]

I think where things stand Essendon didn’t read the way the games changing. We weren’t alone. The afl don’t give much notice on rule changes or interpretations.

We took two inside mids with questionable tanks and skills with our top picks. Yes it’s revisionist and also the old regime but we got it wrong.

Lets calm the farm a bit. He is still only 21 and has had a chequered run with injury.
We may have got it wrong but 90% of clubs would have gone for Tsatas at the pick we had. He certainly would not have lasted past pick 9.

 

[FootyGuru]

Lets calm the farm a bit. He is still only 21 and has had a chequered run with injury.
We may have got it wrong but 90% of clubs would have gone for Tsatas at the pick we had. He certainly would not have lasted past pick 9.

I actually still hold out hope for him to make it. Doubt it will be any position other than midfield though.

 

[Calthorpe14]

I actually still hold out hope for him to make it. Doubt it will be any position other than midfield though.

I think there's a far greater chance that if he's going to make it, it will be elsewhere. I don't see him breaking into the midfield this year unless Parish & Caldwell both go down and if he's not getting games, I don't see him wanting to stay.

 

[Wahooti Fandango]

View attachment 2534802

His hands make the footy look small.

Yeah but hardly Stewart Loewe.

 

[Call Me Cake]

I think where things stand Essendon didn’t read the way the games changing. We weren’t alone. The afl don’t give much notice on rule changes or interpretations.

We took two inside mids with questionable tanks and skills with our top picks. Yes it’s revisionist and also the old regime but we got it wrong.

While it's true that certain players with certain attributes fit a certain way that the comp is moving, that still doesn't mean you don't need other types. If the game favours inside, you still need good outside and vice versa. If you have good inside mids that are slow, you surround them with good fast players. All types of players, regardless whichever way the game is moving, will always have their role in the game. The issue is we've had neither.

 

[Old Campaigner]

The position he sucks at but he could play if decision making competitiveness and kicking were ok would be the wing.

So, the position he could play if he were a completely different player? Some top notch analysis right there

 

[King Patty]

So, the position he could play if he were a completely different player? Some top notch analysis right there

meant all things he can work on.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

I think where things stand Essendon didn’t read the way the games changing. We weren’t alone. The afl don’t give much notice on rule changes or interpretations.

We took two inside mids with questionable tanks and skills with our top picks. Yes it’s revisionist and also the old regime but we got it wrong.

I feel like we kinda had spots earmarked for Tsatas and Hobbs and then Durham and Caldwell went past them at the speed of light.

 

[Old Campaigner]

I feel like we kinda had spots earmarked for Tsatas and Hobbs and then Durham and Caldwell went past them at the speed of light.

We didn't have great inside midfield stocks at the time, Hobbs made a whole lot of sense, and Tsatas kinda did too at the time.

Hobbs was rated as the best pure inside mid in his draft at a time we were desperate for an inside mid. There would've been a riot if we'd passed on him.

 

[FootyGuru]

I feel like we kinda had spots earmarked for Tsatas and Hobbs and then Durham and Caldwell went past them at the speed of light.

Durham moved from outside to inside. That move was actually super surprising to most id assume. Caldwell was serving his apprenticeship up forward and obviously we also had Merrett parish etc

 

[joey_jo_jo]

Durham moved from outside to inside. That move was actually super surprising to most id assume. Caldwell was serving his apprenticeship up forward and obviously we also had Merrett parish etc

overall agree with your point but Caldwell was alway earmarked to be an inside mid. we always seem to make young mids serve an apprenticeship up forward (parish, hobbs, caldwell, possibly sharp)