AFL Player # 5: Elijah Tsatas

[TheGrizz]

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

 

[EnolaGay]

I don't get the negativity, this guy will be the main man to give us the chaos ball forward 50 entries we need.

It's not like we have a glut of strong marking forwards.

 

[ant555]

There's been not many good ones. At least his 40+ to the wrong side of a contest advance the ball.

Point is people have been surprised by the absolute howlers he's served up at AFL level. It shouldn't be a surprise when his kicking has been no better at VFL level. It's been fairly constant across all his games since donning the sash. I've no idea what he was like as a junior.

I've posted on his VFL kicking, it's not something I managed to make up at the time that suddenly all came true when he got to show off his talents to a wider audience.

It is simple. He has some good ones and some shit ones. Not every kick he has been shit. To say otherwise is simply showing negative bias. I do not rate his long kicking . Hit is hit and miss and I do not see them really fixing it as it is in his action when he tries to put some power into his kick. It is like a dodgy golf swing that loses all timing. That being said he has no issues with his shorter kicks when he is not trying to put too much on the footy. I am not on his wagon but I am not going to pretend every time he has kicked the footy in the VFL there has been a negative outcome. Like I said 50/50 . Some good ones and some average ones.

 

[yodellinhank]

It is simple. He has some good ones and some shit ones. Not every kick he has been shit. To say otherwise is simply showing negative bias. I do not rate his long kicking . Hit is hit and miss and I do not see them really fixing it as it is in his action when he tries to put some power into his kick. It is like a dodgy golf swing that loses all timing. That being said he has no issues with his shorter kicks when he is not trying to put too much on the footy. I am not on his wagon but I am not going to pretend every time he has kicked the footy in the VFL there has been a negative outcome. Like I said 50/50 . Some good ones and some average ones.

His issues go beyond trying to kick the cover off it. He has stuffed just as many short kicks as he has the long ones.

His first kick against the blues was a short one, he lollipopped it and made life hard for Langford. His second was a dribbler, again was looking to short pass. Both short kicks, both shit.

 

[ant555]

His issues go beyond trying to kick the cover off it. He has stuffed just as many short kicks as he has the long ones.

His first kick against the blues was a short one, he lollipopped it and made life hard for Langford. His second was a dribbler, again was looking to short pass. Both short kicks, both shit.

Both in the AFL. Thought the question was about his kicking in the VFL ? I stand by the fact his short kicking is better than his long kicking. There are no issues with his kicking action when he does not try to kick the cover off it.
Yes he had 1 effective kick out of 3 against Carlton. He had 5 effective kicks out of 7 against the Hawks. 5/9 against the Swans.1/2 against the Crows.3/5 against North.4/7 against the Tigers.0/1 against the Suns. Like I said not everything he does is a total **** up like you want to imply. The fact is no he is not a great kick. Yes he has an issue in his kicking action.
Personally I would have D'Ambrosio playing wing before I would have Tsatas and I do not rate the way Mass defends at all but Tsatas does not **** very kick. In fact he goes at around 50% which is still not great.

 

[yodellinhank]

Both in the AFL. Thought the question was about his kicking in the VFL ? I stand by the fact his short kicking is better than his long kicking. There are no issues with his kicking action when he does not try to kick the cover off it.
Yes he had 1 effective kick out of 3 against Carlton. He had 5 effective kicks out of 7 against the Hawks. 5/9 against the Swans.1/2 against the Crows.3/5 against North.4/7 against the Tigers.0/1 against the Suns. Like I said not everything he does is a total **** up like you want to imply. The fact is no he is not a great kick. Yes he has an issue in his kicking action.
Personally I would have D'Ambrosio playing wing before I would have Tsatas and I do not rate the way Mass defends at all but Tsatas does not **** very kick. In fact he goes at around 50% which is still not great.

40+m to a contest effective, his long kicks actually flatter his stats. His kicking has been no better or worse in the AFL than in the VFL, where he also stuffed many a short kick.

 

[ant555]

40+m to a contest effective, his long kicks actually flatter his stats. His kicking has been no better or worse in the AFL than in the VFL, where he also stuffed many a short kick.

 

[DERO]

Stripes is one of the greatest movies ever made.

 

[I Remember Bluey]

Could someone put up a more manly picture of him please?

 

[FrankGrimes]

How good was Parish in his first 6 games, can we wait until he has played a few games before casting him as a dud.

 

[bombreys]

How good was Parish in his first 6 games, can we wait until he has played a few games before casting him as a dud.

Questioning his kicking does not = casting him as a dud

 

[BrunoV]

ant555, what

It is simple. He has some good ones and some shit ones. Not every kick he has been shit. To say otherwise is simply showing negative bias. I do not rate his long kicking . Hit is hit and miss and I do not see them really fixing it as it is in his action when he tries to put some power into his kick. It is like a dodgy golf swing that loses all timing. That being said he has no issues with his shorter kicks when he is not trying to put too much on the footy. I am not on his wagon but I am not going to pretend every time he has kicked the footy in the VFL there has been a negative outcome. Like I said 50/50 . Some good ones and some average ones.

So what is the actual position here?

As I read it:

1. you believe Tsatas' long kicking is poor (hank does too, he just says it's more effective generally and it's a point that has merit);

2. in relation to his short kicks, he has some good kicks and some bad kicks (i.e. he is 50/50).

So if we assume, for example, the breakdown of short and long kicks is 50/50, doesn't that mean on your own logic that you see him as a reliable kick or kick that is not flawed 25% of the time (i.e. the some good of the shorter kicks)? Or something in that range? I recall him hitting 1 or 2 long targets this season so we cant assume that he misses every single long kick. So we should give him something for long kicks, let's round the total reliability up to 33%.

As such, we have a player who is a reliable kick / not flawed kick in a range of 25% to 33% of the time, or something in a similar range. It could be taken apart even more by looking at the ratios of uncontested possession kick (which is 50/50 you're referring to), the hard ball kick (an occasional shamble forward is marked but that's it) and then the loose ball kick which is closer to the hard ball based on my impression.

He would be lucky to come out of a proper analysis with 33% of kicks that are not flawed /successfully hitting targets

He may well kick short more than long but 50/50 for short kicks is a very generous assessment, in my view. So it will balance out.

Does hitting 1/4, 1/3 targets offend your eye test? I'm fine with it. That's about what I think I see.

This discussion is really about the quality of Tastas' kicking, isn't it? I think you should start overthinking a bit because, as it stands, you're supporting a position you can't possibly agree with.

 

[EnolaGay]

One thing I’ve noticed with Elijah is that when he’s running pre-kick, his hands (holding the ball) are constantly waving about which does make you think it would be increasing the chance of error.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[justlookingaround]

like 99% of people who play football get correctly written off before the age of 19 though

That's not our job as supporters.

 

[ant555]

ant555, what


So what is the actual position here?

As I read it:

1. you believe Tsatas' long kicking is poor (hank does too, he just says it's more effective generally and it's a point that has merit);

2. in relation to his short kicks, he has some good kicks and some bad kicks (i.e. he is 50/50).

So if we assume, for example, the breakdown of short and long kicks is 50/50, doesn't that mean on your own logic that you see him as a reliable kick or kick that is not flawed 25% of the time (i.e. the some good of the shorter kicks)? Or something in that range? I recall him hitting 1 or 2 long targets this season so we cant assume that he misses every single long kick. So we should give him something for long kicks, let's round the total reliability up to 33%.

As such, we have a player who is a reliable kick / not flawed kick in a range of 25% to 33% of the time, or something in a similar range. It could be taken apart even more by looking at the ratios of uncontested possession kick (which is 50/50 you're referring to), the hard ball kick (an occasional shamble forward is marked but that's it) and then the loose ball kick which is closer to the hard ball based on my impression.

He would be lucky to come out of a proper analysis with 33% of kicks that are not flawed /successfully hitting targets

He may well kick short more than long but 50/50 for short kicks is a very generous assessment, in my view. So it will balance out.

Does hitting 1/4, 1/3 targets offend your eye test? I'm fine with it. That's about what I think I see.

This discussion is really about the quality of Tastas' kicking, isn't it? I think you should start overthinking a bit because, as it stands, you're supporting a position you can't possibly agree with.

My position is simple.

Long kicks or any kick at real speed where he has to put power into the kick are generally no good. He loses any timing he has and looks to be trying to kick the ball too hard.

Short kicks not under pressure okay so kicks from behind the mark or when he is in space. No real issues with his action .

I do not need to over think it as I did not agree with Hank or you on the short kicking despite him butchering two short kicks against the Blues. I base this on going back and looking at his under 18 footy. His training. His VFL games and AFL. It is not perfect but I just do not agree that it is as big an issue as his longer kicks and it is not an issue in his action until he tires to really put some zip on it. I watched him the other night taking kicks from 35 out and he kicked 19/20 and hit the post with the other. Poor decisions or lazy one step kicks aside it is only when he tries to kick the ball harder than normal that he starts having serious issues.

I am not a fan. He has issues I do not think they can fix. I was not in his fan club before the draft and I am not now. He can find the footy. His clearance stuff is good. I think he will end up a solid type body wise but he is looking like Dylan Shiel only his disposal is actually worse.

Like I said give me a choice between him and D'Ambrosio on a wing and I am taking Mass and I do not rate his defensive work at all.
All I have done is disagree that his short kicking game has the same issues as when he tries to put some power onto the ball. If you want me to rate the whole lot as a whole then no I am not convinced taking a guy at 5 who has issues with defense and also issues with with doing something with the ball when he gets is then no I do not rate it.

I do not see him as a great pick up at 5 but the flip side of that is my man for that pick is not tearing it up either so who am I to jump up and down. Even Humphry is in a bit of a second year rut .

 

[yodellinhank]

like 99% of people who play football get correctly written off before the age of 19 though

If you're not famous at fourteen, you're finished

 

[Nicholas61]

One thing I’ve noticed with Elijah is that when he’s running pre-kick, his hands (holding the ball) are constantly waving about which does make you think it would be increasing the chance of error.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

That would certainly have an effect. Late last year looking at pictures of him about to kick his ball grip varied.

 

[Mikevk123]

If we’re gonna play him at AFL level play him on ball.

 

[bombreys]

If we’re gonna play him at AFL level play him on ball.

Yeah, the sub thing is beyond dumb

 

[NoWuckingFurries]

Was just eating dinner next to him at a restaurant in south Melbourne. Had an urge to scream "I believe in you". Cooler heads prevailed and I saved him and my wife the embarrassment.

 

[mcgrath_truther]

Was just eating dinner next to him at a restaurant in south Melbourne. Had an urge to scream "I believe in you". Cooler heads prevailed and I saved him and my wife the embarrassment.

recall a similar thing when i was younger, saw joe daniher with some other dons players (shaun mckernan comes to mind) and i wanted to go say hi but i would've died from embarrassment

 

[fairbump_playon]

Was just eating dinner next to him at a restaurant in south Melbourne. Had an urge to scream "I believe in you". Cooler heads prevailed and I saved him and my wife the embarrassment.

He probably would only have short kicked you, so you would have been ok

 

[Agronomus]

It is simple. He has some good ones and some shit ones. Not every kick he has been shit. To say otherwise is simply showing negative bias. I do not rate his long kicking . Hit is hit and miss and I do not see them really fixing it as it is in his action when he tries to put some power into his kick. It is like a dodgy golf swing that loses all timing. That being said he has no issues with his shorter kicks when he is not trying to put too much on the footy. I am not on his wagon but I am not going to pretend every time he has kicked the footy in the VFL there has been a negative outcome. Like I said 50/50 . Some good ones and some average ones.

Who's the least worst kick out of Jobe or Tsatas at this stage of their careers?

 

[ant555]

Who's the least worst kick out of Jobe or Tsatas at this stage of their careers?

Jobe did not have a technical issue in his action. He got better once he got fit and worked on consistency with his ball drop.

 

[Agronomus]

He seems to play like a ruck rover but kicks like an old fashioned centreman

 

[NAB777]

He seems to play like a ruck rover but kicks like an old fashioned centreman

Nifty Neville Fields takes umbrage at that comment