Esava remains a Cat!!

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Ricketz

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Not sure why everyone is talking about the goal kicking.

Wells said at the start of 2020 that he expects Esava to be #1 ruck in the future.
He certainly doesn't suck in that regard. Needs to get better? Sure. But I do like his follow up efforts with the ground ball.

I'd like to see him mark more. Now that may seem like a strange comment re: his rucking being more important.
But sometimes the guys down the line need a reliable target up the ground. I want him to be that guy.

He's definitely athletic when jumping at the ball. But sometimes I feel that if he wasn't so athletic he wouldn't get near it. I'm not sure if he's way out of position too often. If so, there's one guy I'd have him talking to. N Riewoldt.
He doesn't suck rucking?
 

Kitcat

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I don't think it's much of an issue. Jezza will be back in hopefully 3-4 weeks so the need to play Sav solely as a forward will become moot. The real scenario will remain the battle between Sav and Stanley for the no. 1 ruck spot. If Sav wants to play finals he'll need to prove he's a better option than Stanley. That's how I see it. But once Jezza is back, Sav's only hope to play is as the ruck.
It will be an issue if we start to lose games.
 

Goggin Our Best

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Has yet to play a poor game at the MCG - and i hope thats still the case after the Blues game

Normally his marking his feature at the MCG

Its interesting - and everyone is entitled to their opinion - and im a Sav fan - because he has got obvious talent - and when Geel had that horrendous game against Rich at the G/Coast last year - he was the only one who to took any marks

You contrast that to 2 years ago - there was alot of posters saying - bring in Buzza in ( who had very little talent ) oh Big Wylie can crash packs - wow
 
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Has yet to play a poor game at the MCG - and i hope thats still the case after the Blues game

Normally his marking his feature at the MCG

Its interesting - and everyone is entitled to their opinion - and im a Sav fan - because he has got obvious talent - and when Geel had that horrendous game against Rich at the G/Coast last year - he was the only one who to took any marks

You contrast that to 2 years ago - there was alot of posters saying - bring in Buzza in ( who had very little talent ) oh Big Wylie can crash packs - wow

Not sure his 4 touch effort against Collingwood six weeks ago at the G can be described as anything but poor. Compare him to Rhys who had 16 and a goal while breaking even with Grundy and got dropped the next week.
 

Spearman

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I disagree. Completely uncompetitive at centre bounces to the point where he isn’t even jumping at them anymore. Completely lost confidence there this year. He was better previous years.
The reason I think we thought he could be a ruck was because he darn near jumped over NitNat(?) Jumping was his thing. That he doesn't now points at some issue I should think.
 
Not sure why everyone is talking about the goal kicking.

Wells said at the start of 2020 that he expects Esava to be #1 ruck in the future.
He certainly doesn't suck in that regard
. Needs to get better? Sure. But I do like his follow up efforts with the ground ball.

I'd like to see him mark more. Now that may seem like a strange comment re: his rucking being more important.
But sometimes the guys down the line need a reliable target up the ground. I want him to be that guy.

He's definitely athletic when jumping at the ball. But sometimes I feel that if he wasn't so athletic he wouldn't get near it. I'm not sure if he's way out of position too often. If so, there's one guy I'd have him talking to. N Riewoldt.

Are you sure?

Playing predominantly as our #1 ruck this year he's averaging 10 hitouts & 9.7 disposals - his 10 hitouts has him 3rd at the club for average hitouts per game and sorry but that's a pathetic return from a guy who's been selected to play a key role in the ruck

It's got to the stage where he's not contesting centre bounces, instead he just stands there & allows his opponent up jump over the top of him. In his last match against the Lions we again reverted to using Blicavs in centre bounce contests in an attempt to show some level of competitiveness

And in regards to our other rucks, Stanley is averaging 16.22 hitouts & Blicavs playing as the backup is averaging 14.21 hitouts. But for Blicavs, when we look at his hitout stats just for the 6 games he's played alongside Ratugolea, his average jumps to 22.5 per game, and it's clear he's playing a bigger role in the ruck than the guy being selected as of apparent #1

Considering that in none of his 7 games so far this season has Ratugolea had the most hitouts for Geelong let alone the most on the ground, and 4 games of single digit hitouts, I'm not sure how anyone can say with a straight face that Ratugolea has been a serviceable ruck this season and that he doesn't suck in the ruck
 

Kitcat

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Are you sure?

Playing predominantly as our #1 ruck this year he's averaging 10 hitouts & 9.7 disposals - his 10 hitouts has him 3rd at the club for average hitouts per game and sorry but that's a pathetic return from a guy who's been selected to play a key role in the ruck

It's got to the stage where he's not contesting centre bounces, instead he just stands there & allows his opponent up jump over the top of him. In his last match against the Lions we again reverted to using Blicavs in centre bounce contests in an attempt to show some level of competitiveness

And in regards to our other rucks, Stanley is averaging 16.22 hitouts & Blicavs playing as the backup is averaging 14.21 hitouts. But for Blicavs, when we look at his hitout stats just for the 6 games he's played alongside Ratugolea, his average jumps to 22.5 per game, and it's clear he's playing a bigger role in the ruck than the guy being selected as of apparent #1

Considering that in none of his 7 games so far this season where Ratugolea has had the most hitouts for Geelong let alone the most on the ground, and 4 games of single digit hitouts, I'm not sure how anyone can say with a straight face that Ratugolea has been a serviceable ruck this season and that he doesn't suck in the ruck
He isn’t physical enough when he jumps at the bounce. He competes when the ball hits the ground in the centre circle but so do most rucks these days.
 

standupand

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Can’t blame him players are well known to be hesitant and struggle coming back from leg breaks , he might be at his best untill next year
He's also relatively new to the ruck role. I see a lot to like in Esava as ruck/forward. It's true that he's still a bit of a work in progress, but he has all the attributes to be a really damaging player. Great leap and great hands, explosive speed and good at ground level. I know the hit out stats aren't kind, but it's not like any of our other ruck options are lighting it up atm. It's just not a position we're getting an advantage over other sides in. Can't win them all. But give him some time and he'll be a far better prospect than Stanley has ever been.
 

My Tilly

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Isn't it a bit racist to mould him into a Naitanui?

Honestly, he looks a lot more like a Nathan Vardy prospect if he were to remain a ruckman. Vardy's never been close to elite in that position.
I'm hoping Ratugolea can develop as a key position player and De Koning can become our future gun ruckman.
 
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There really is no point in comparing Hawkins and Esava. They are very different players but also one of them is an all time great.
Esava has deficiencies in his game and I don’t think he can become as good a player as Hawk. But he can still be a really important player for the club.
I think a better comparison is a player like Cam Mooney. Mooney became a really important part of our premiership teams. But he didn’t have the talent of Cameron or Hawkins.

Important signature for the club and he knows he’s got two superstars in front of him. Perhaps some other young players might be inspired to wait and fight for their spot as well.
Other young players might have interest from other clubs. I doubt Sav has had any.
 
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