AFL Player # 5: Elijah Tsatas

[TheGrizz]

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

 

[Red Black and Blue]

Needs to spend the next 6 months working on nothing but his action, the rest of his game is fine.

 

[andleanback]

Has to learn how to kick on the run. Deadset just throws it up in the air. One of the worst kicking actions I’ve ever seen

 

[bennyg12]

My son kicks a ballon around the house further and straighter

 

[Schnitzengruben]

My son kicks a ballon around the house further and straighter

Damn, he just missed the MSD.

 

[bombreys]

I like him but jeez the kicking is a huge worry.

 

[DERO]

tracking very similar to LDU who might be a good comparison.

 

[Howard Moon]

tracking very similar to LDU who might be a good comparison.

Nah I don't see it, while ldu took a while to come on he always had a step and forward momentum with the ball, he just needed the body

Our boy just turns his body and looks for a handball. If I could think of a similar scenario it would be Dow, an early pick who had so little faith in his kicking that his entire game turned to shit cause all he ended up doing was becoming a handballer which took away his main asset, break away pace

 

[Bombers36]

Did we really use pick 5 on Tsatas..??!?!

 

[DERO]

Nah I don't see it, while ldu took a while to come on he always had a step and forward momentum with the ball, he just needed the body

Our boy just turns his body and looks for a handball. If I could think of a similar scenario it would be Dow, an early pick who had so little faith in his kicking that his entire game turned to shit cause all he ended up doing was becoming a handballer which took away his main asset, break away pace

I’m more optimistic and LDU struggled for his first couple of years but yeah, the kicking is horrible.

 

[ghostdog]

I'm not hanging him out to dry for that one kick. His last couple of games you could see his kicking had improved. He's ironing it out but there will be moments like that while he does. I was probably one if his main detractors here before the season started but I've seen enough to think he'll come good. I agree though, at the moment he doesn't look like he was worth pick 5. Darcy Wilson on the other hand...

 

[DapperDon]

He is not suited for the sub, we either play him full games or he plays full games in reserves.

 

[The Prosecutor]

Yeah playing him as sub is just mis-management.

 

[ant555]

Still thinking he is going to be a Treloar type. Will find plenty of the footy but will always have some poor kicks in him .

 

[Ambrosia]

tracking very similar to LDU who might be a good comparison.

I can’t stop seeing Paddy Dow

 

[DERO]

I can’t stop seeing Paddy Dow

Me neither now!

 

[BrunoV]

Did we really use pick 5 on Tsatas..??!?!

Hey, look, everyone else would have done it, too.

 

[andleanback]

tracking very similar to LDU who might be a good comparison.

Role wise, difference is ldu can kick

 

[faible]

Role wise, difference is ldu can kick

I'm not sure how much North you've watched, LDU has plenty of shit kicks.

 

[NAB777]

Still thinking he is going to be a Treloar type. Will find plenty of the footy but will always have some poor kicks in him .

Given his technique & the sample size so far, the hope is that he has some good kicks in him

 

[Beerfish]

I'm not sure how much North you've watched

As little as possible tbh.

 

[faible]

As little as possible tbh.

Some of us do our charity work by keeping a North supporting loved one company

 

[DERO]

Role wise, difference is ldu can kick

Similar size and athleticism/ power I guess but unfortunately I can’t unsee Paddy Wow now

 

[andleanback]

I'm not sure how much North you've watched, LDU has plenty of shit kicks.

Most miss have plenty of shit kicks. Ldu isn’t kicking them off his knee when he’s running out of the middle though

 

[Beerfish]

Some of us do our charity work by keeping a North supporting loved one company

Hope you're keeping the receipts for the tax deductions.

 

[BrunoV]

I do not see similarities between LDU and Tsatas.

For a start LDU is a natural hardball player where as Tsatas' attributes are more suited to space / the break from congestion. Tsatas has good hands in close, and that may be a side of his game that evolves into something quite strong, but I do not believe he was considered at the top of the draft for that part of his game, his reputation was primarily based on his run and what I'll term his capacity as an inside receiver.

LDU is superficially a contradiction because he's built like the proverbial brick outhouse but he has an agility and fancy footwork which combines with an explosive burst so that he does not have to bulldoze his way through traffic (although he can do it). I see him a bit like a middle class Bont although he looks more like a middle class Petracca. When Bont is playing mid he has a subtlety to his game that does not always require the bash and crash he is capable of, he is almost like Pendlebury in that regard. Contrast with Cripps and Jobe who are/were all about engaging and punishing the opponent physically with very little subtlety. LDU has a bit more of a burst than Bont but it's nothing special. His style seems to me to be a midpoint between Bont and Petracca.

This is how I think we've gotten muddled up in the LDU - Tsatas comparison. It's an example of the poorly defined difference between / understanding of the loose ball get and hard ball get, breaking from stoppages/congestion as more of a loose ball get / inside receiver and breaking through congestion as a classic hardball player. I heard the expert David King on Crunch Time on Saturday try to engage this issue, and completely **** it up, when discussing Nick Daicos. No, Kingy, Daicos is not a clearances beast, he's probably become the most deadly inside receiver we've seen (certainly in a very long time) because there are a handful of players in history that can kick the ball like he does (and many of them couldn't/didn't play midfield). King even said it himself, or I should say that he tried to say it but doesn't really understand the point, Collingwood sets the game up to get the loose ball clearance into the hands of Daicos. The clearance beast does not need anyone's help to the get the ball but he's also generally a blunt instrument that can't do anything approaching what Daicos can do with the ball.

The highest point for LDU would be something like Petracca, that is fundamentally a classic inside mid with the power to turn the hard ball into a break through and away from congestion. The highest point for Tsatas would be Rozee which is more of a running game / inside receiver role that you don't actually want getting too much ball inside because it neutralises his running strength.

Be very concerned about Tsatas if your expectation for him is as the inside / first touch / hard ball player. You are basically reinventing the player and then it starts to look very Paddy Dow

15

Paddy Dow

Age

24

Ht

184cm

Wt

83kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

14.1

4star

K

7.0

3star

HB

7.1

4star

M

2.1

2star

T

2.9

4star

CL

2.6

4star

D

7.0

1star

K

4.0

1star

HB

3.0

2star

M

3.0

3star

T

2.0

3star

CL

0.0

1star

D

12.4

4star

K

5.8

3star

HB

6.6

4star

M

1.6

2star

T

2.8

5star

CL

2.6

5star

. I'd say further they if you want LDU for his running game you'll be sorely disappointed.