Toast Esava

[cats_09]

What does getting cheap uncontested marks up the ground have to do with Esava’s reading of the ball in flight?

He impacts contests in the air, that’s his strength and his value to our 22. The criticism that he doesn’t read the flight well couldn’t be further from the truth.

He gets out marked too easily & into the wrong position in marking contests because he doesn't read the flight of the ball - that's evident just watching him

And getting some early, cheap touches would be great for getting him into the match as he plays better when his confidence is up and early touches is the best way of getting his confidence up - not sure there's a bigger confidence player at the club than him

If he drops a couple of early marks it becomes easy to forget he's actually playing because he seems to then go missing. Get him involved early, and even if he isn't racking up the disposals, he seems better involved in the match

 

[cats_09]

Loved his attitude in the post game interview when he kicked four against NM, spoke about how he wants to work for the club as a whole, not just himself. He didn't mind where he was playing or if he was playing, just wanted to help see Geelong to a flag.

Ratugolea has never kicked a goal against North - maybe you're thinking of another game

 

[The rabbi]

Ratugolea has never kicked a goal against North - maybe you're thinking of another game

I think that he is confused with the game against Richmond in round 19 where Ratugolea kicked 4.



Esava Ratugolea of the Geelong Cats Player Profile and AFL Stats (footywire.com)

 

[standupand]

I think that he is confused with the game against Richmond in round 19 where Ratugolea kicked 4.



Esava Ratugolea of the Geelong Cats Player Profile and AFL Stats (footywire.com)

No I think it was a vfl game early season.

 

[My Tilly]

What does getting cheap uncontested marks up the ground have to do with Esava’s reading of the ball in flight?

He impacts contests in the air, that’s his strength and his value to our 22. The criticism that he doesn’t read the flight well couldn’t be further from the truth.

His reading of the play is not as good as you think it is. 2 marks in the finals is absolutely appalling. Only Gary Rohan could match such woeful stats.

 

[Farmer2Goggin]

Judging the ball in flight? Pardon? He was our only competitive aerial threat in the finals.

He runs under it or starts too far back from the pack in the games I’ve seen live.
He’s very competitive when he judges it right but in the games I’ve seen - 5 or so it stands out that long , high kicks to packs are a bit of a weakness.

 

[foxdog50]

Bump..... Just thought I'd jump this thread up again...
I have said it before.... is it worth trying him as a key defender

 

[cats_09]

Bump..... Just thought I'd jump this thread up again...
I have said it before.... is it worth trying him as a key defender

Tell him to stand on the goal line and punch any ball that looks likely to go through for a goal?

 

[foxdog50]

Tell him to stand on the goal line and punch any ball that looks likely to go through for a goal?

Thats why I thought he make a good defender

 

[goyoucatters]

Small sample size, of course. But apart from the mark deep in the back line early on. yesterday was another wash for Sav. 4 possessions and 5 hit-outs from nearly 75% TOG.

I know they'll probably keep giving him games. And a potential absence for Jez in the short term potentially provides even more job security. But the output at the moment surely leads to the conclusion that he is being gifted games rather than simply given them. Has got to more games based on nothing more than 'potential' than any other Cat I can remember.

I'd give him six weeks solely in the forward line in the twos and tell him to just mark the footy and kick goals. Then we'll talk.

 

[Live in hope]

Watched Esva (admittedly on replay) and I think there are three mains reasons for the low contribution-

• main is that Hawk and Cameron are the ‘go to KPFs’ - Esva’s role is to keep space from them and avoid the double team on them. And it worked pretty well on Saturday.
• next is that Esva is not running to the right spots to ‘demand’ the ball. Not sure it can be trained - I think it is largely an instinct that good forwards have.
• finally - my biggest gripe with Esva - he lets defenders block him from the contest way too easily. For a man of his size and agility that is appalling (and also points to incomplete coaching). Was infuriated by how much smaller defenders were simply stepping in front or lightly grappling him. He really needs to watch how Hawk times his bumps on defenders or Cameron stays mobile to get around a block and get a run at the ball. If he can fix that, Esva will make it. If not, he’ll go when Celgar or another half decent ruck emerges.

 

[Down at K Park]

Bump..... Just thought I'd jump this thread up again...
I have said it before.... is it worth trying him as a key defender

The thought of it makes me want to crawl into the foetal position. He has no game sense or footy iq. A smart forward would destroy him. He wouldn’t know what to do. He’d have bags kicked on him every week.

 

[doctor_evil]

I thought Hawkins was a dud for a few years too. He will come of age. Has the attributes. Prefer him to Stanley any day of the week.

 

[standupand]

Watched Esva (admittedly on replay) and I think there are three mains reasons for the low contribution-

• main is that Hawk and Cameron are the ‘go to KPFs’ - Esva’s role is to keep space from them and avoid the double team on them. And it worked pretty well on Saturday.
• next is that Esva is not running to the right spots to ‘demand’ the ball. Not sure it can be trained - I think it is largely an instinct that good forwards have.
• finally - my biggest gripe with Esva - he lets defenders block him from the contest way too easily. For a man of his size and agility that is appalling (and also points to incomplete coaching). Was infuriated by how much smaller defenders were simply stepping in front or lightly grappling him. He really needs to watch how Hawk times his bumps on defenders or Cameron stays mobile to get around a block and get a run at the ball. If he can fix that, Esva will make it. If not, he’ll go when Celgar or another half decent ruck emerges.

Yes I noticed that too. A few times he just needed to give his defender a decent shove-off at the right time to get a better run at the ball. Like you say, those things can be learnt. I'm often surprised by the vitriol for Esava. He didn't seem to me to do many things wrong on Saturday. He was a decent contributor. A few times JC in the 1st qtr ran right into Hawkins leads like a headless chook. Now, if that had been Esava I feel like fans on here would have nearly lost their minds.

 

[calder_daddy]

I thought Hawkins was a dud for a few years too. He will come of age. Has the attributes. Prefer him to Stanley any day of the week.

They should give you a month off for that comment

 

[you pick one]

Yes I noticed that too. A few times he just needed to give his defender a decent shove-off at the right time to get a better run at the ball. Like you say, those things can be learnt. I'm often surprised by the vitriol for Esava. He didn't seem to me to do many things wrong on Saturday. He was a decent contributor. A few times JC in the 1st qtr ran right into Hawkins leads like a headless chook. Now, if that had been Esava I feel like fans on here would have nearly lost their minds.

That's where growing up playing the game is such an advantage all those marking skill including reading the ball in flight are (or at least in my case) were learnt and practiced in the pack kick to kick with team mates prior to training

 

[iameviljez]

I thought Hawkins was a dud for a few years too. He will come of age. Has the attributes. Prefer him to Stanley any day of the week.

Hawkins did look absolutely lost up until 3/4s of the way through 2011, people forget that easily. But he never struggled as badly as Ratugolea does now.

 

[Ratcat]

We will always have a spot for a mobile Ruck/Utility like Esava imo, as long as he's launching at the ball, the other team will find it that much harder to clunk the easy mark if and wherever we're caught short!
Brings much more to the team than many understand in my view.

 

[D BRIDGE]

Chris Scott

Chris Scott

Age

47

Ht

182cm

Wt

89kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.6

4star

K

11.2

4star

HB

5.4

4star

M

5.1

5star

T

1.6

4star

G

0.4

3star

No current season stats available

D

13.2

4star

K

10.2

4star

HB

3.0

3star

M

2.2

3star

T

2.8

5star

G

0.4

3star

has so much blind faith in Sav.

He literally can not win a tap or get the ball around the ground.
Takes 1 or 2 marks a game at best and just has no idea.
Isn't a natural forward either (or ruck).

Anyway, besides SDK we basically have zero decent looking key talls on our list (Conway is a ruck).

The cupboard is very very bare in terms of young upcoming talent.... and it's understandable because we have been in the window for so long.

It's just a bummer that we never snagged just 1 more flag recently, because whilst we will still win plenty of games, I don't see a flag coming before the cliff.

We had a good run & it's still going I guess... Oh yeah, Ratugolea is a spud. Nothing will change my mind on that one.

 

[someday-somehow]

I think the sample size has been enough. Mabior Chol

18

Mabior Chol

Age

27

Ht

200cm

Wt

98kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

7.5

2star

K

5.3

2star

HB

2.2

2star

M

2.3

2star

T

2.7

4star

G

0.8

4star

D

8.0

2star

K

6.0

2star

HB

2.0

1star

M

2.3

2star

T

2.3

3star

G

0.7

4star

D

9.2

3star

K

6.8

3star

HB

2.4

3star

M

3.2

4star

T

1.8

4star

G

1.2

4star

has done much more than Sav and he was a rookie that was delisted by Richmond then traded to the Suns.
This should be his last year - should be dropped to the VFL and force his way back in, if it doesn't happen by the end of the year then delist.

He showed more promise in his first year than he has since, probably had the natural flair coached out of him which happens a bit at Geelong, I'm not saying that's a bad thing because game plan and structure are important but Sav has looked lost on the field for years now and doesn't appear to enjoy his football.

CS saying he's a threat is, frankly, laughable.

EDIT: Darcy Fort

32

Darcy Fort

Age

30

Ht

204cm

Wt

98kg

Pos.

F/R

Career

Season

Last 5

D

8.6

2star

K

5.8

2star

HB

2.9

3star

M

1.9

2star

T

1.8

4star

G

0.8

4star

D

9.2

2star

K

6.0

2star

HB

3.2

2star

M

1.8

2star

T

1.8

3star

G

0.2

3star

D

7.6

2star

K

5.4

2star

HB

2.2

2star

M

2.0

3star

T

1.2

3star

G

1.2

4star

had a better output on the weekend.

 

[cats_09]

I think the sample size has been enough. Mabior Chol has done much more than Sav and he was a rookie that was delisted by Richmond then traded to the Suns.
This should be his last year - should be dropped to the VFL and force his way back in, if it doesn't happen by the end of the year then delist.

He showed more promise in his first year than he has since, probably had the natural flair coached out of him which happens a bit at Geelong, I'm not saying that's a bad thing because game plan and structure are important but Sav has looked lost on the field for years now and doesn't appear to enjoy his football.

CS saying he's a threat is, frankly, laughable.

EDIT: Darcy Fort had a better output on the weekend.

He's contracted for next year, so regardless of what happens across the remaining weeks of season 2022, he won't be delisted

If Dahlhaus wasn't delisted after last season, we aren't going to suddenly delist a contracted player

 

[BORIS332]

Hawkins did look absolutely lost up until 3/4s of the way through 2011, people forget that easily. But he never struggled as badly as Ratugolea does now.

Below is Hawkins' first nine games of 2011. It was only him and Pods up forward, Esava has to compete with Hawk and JC.

 

[BORIS332]

Chris Scott has so much blind faith in Sav.

He literally can not win a tap or get the ball around the ground.
Takes 1 or 2 marks a game at best and just has no idea.
Isn't a natural forward either (or ruck).

Anyway, besides SDK we basically have zero decent looking key talls on our list (Conway is a ruck).

The cupboard is very very bare in terms of young upcoming talent.... and it's understandable because we have been in the window for so long.

It's just a bummer that we never snagged just 1 more flag recently, because whilst we will still win plenty of games, I don't see a flag coming before the cliff.

We had a good run & it's still going I guess... Oh yeah, Ratugolea is a spud. Nothing will change my mind on that one.

Rhetoric like this is so bizarre to me. How do you know it's CS that has him in the team each week? Equally, how do you know the other coaches aren't fans of Sav?

 

[foxdog50]

I really really hope Esava can prove me wrong.. I really do.. but his played 50 plus Games now, not 12 games.. its time to start performing, having Hawkins and Cameron out with him should make it so much easier, but it's not even helping.

Hawkins looked twice the footballer in his 4 years than Esava has in his 6th year...

 

[iameviljez]

Below is Hawkins' first nine games of 2011. It was only him and Pods up forward, Esava has to compete with Hawk and JC.

View attachment 1350386

And Cam Mooney for some of them, too.

That said, Esava is putting up vastly worse stats that than in his last ten games. Hasn't cracked double digits since R13.