AFL Player # 5: Elijah Tsatas

[TheGrizz]

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

 

[Nicholas61]

Kicking is only part of the issue.

The other issue is that he’s simply not the player we (and many draft watchers) thought he was. He’s not an inside breakaway mid….which is 100% what we thought we drafted.

Sometimes the guys who look like that at junior level it takes a few pre seasons then it translates to AFL. Judd was an odd one out, in fact I think it was Healy was saying he looked like he could play seniors at 15.

 

[Vander18]

Sometimes the guys who look like that at junior level it takes a few pre seasons then it translates to AFL. Judd was an odd one out, in fact I think it was Healy was saying he looked like he could play seniors at 15.

My point is that he wasn’t really that player at junior level either. Got a ton of footy (as he does now) but was not ripping games apart by bursting through stoppages.

 

[ant555]

Kicking is only part of the issue.

The other issue is that he’s simply not the player we (and many draft watchers) thought he was. He’s not an inside breakaway mid….which is 100% what we thought we drafted. That’s where the group think took place in my view.

From my view the break away clearance player thing was always going to be dependent on his body developing as he had so much time out of footy. I still think that can be a realistic goal for him. When you see him at training you can see the frame. Even the shoulders are looking more like a man now and not a 12 year old boy. I also think that like a lot of things it was a bit over played . Bit like Nick Cox and his kicking. Somehow being a decent kick on both sides morphed into him being an elite kick. Same with Tsatas. Good clearance player with outside speed became breakaway clearance guy.

 

[ant555]

What about his short kicks?

Well if the AFL comes up with a rule that everyone has to stop when he has the ball and he can take a short kick of 2 or 3 steps he will be fine.

 

[nipst@r]

I don't like the pick and think we got it wrong.

However, on a positive side can find the footy and seems to have frame/ physical attributes suited to afl.

Like basketball specialists fixing a broken shot. Can we fix a broken kick?

A inside mid/run with player is best we can hope for. Seems they are pushing that line in vfl.

Also how much worse a kick than parish/shiel is he? Not like parish/shiel can kick and we are missing them a bit.

invested a top ten pick, so for any top ten pick you have already committed a lot so club need to give them at least 10-15 full afl games to see.

Can't believe has played 11 as can only remember a few as sub. Although 2nd half of last season I wiped from my memory.

 

[ant555]

I don't like the pick and think we got it wrong.

However, on a positive side can find the footy and seems to have frame/ physical attributes suited to afl.

Like basketball specialists fixing a broken shot. Can we fix a broken kick?

A inside mid/run with player is best we can hope for. Seems they are pushing that line in vfl.

Also how much worse a kick than parish/shiel is he? Not like parish/shiel can kick and we are missing them a bit.

invested a top ten pick, so for any top ten pick you have already committed a lot so club need to give them at least 10-15 full afl games to see.

Can't believe has played 11 as can only remember a few as sub. Although 2nd half of last season I wiped from my memory.

Problem is he is a way worse kick than Shiel or Parish and they have spent 9 months working on his kicking and it is no better than it was . Add that to the fact that we already have issues as far as giving up scores from turnover and we have a situation where he would come in and we would be worse .

 

[mike ross]

This is really depressing reading although accurate. I'm going to hold onto some hope that in a few years he will be a gun. Otherwise what the hell do we do with him?

 

[Agronomus]

So we're writing him off this early into his career? He's miles away from being the finished product and is showing good signs. This is going to be another McGrath whinge fest isn't it?

 

[yodellinhank]

So we're writing him off this early into his career? He's miles away from being the finished product and is showing good signs. This is going to be another McGrath whinge fest isn't it?

Oh god, he's not going to show the same lack of improvement as McGarth I hope?

 

[Vander18]

From my view the break away clearance player thing was always going to be dependent on his body developing as he had so much time out of footy. I still think that can be a realistic goal for him. When you see him at training you can see the frame. Even the shoulders are looking more like a man now and not a 12 year old boy. I also think that like a lot of things it was a bit over played . Bit like Nick Cox and his kicking. Somehow being a decent kick on both sides morphed into him being an elite kick. Same with Tsatas. Good clearance player with outside speed became breakaway clearance guy.

It’s a mindset change as much as a physical change. Maybe more so.

Sometimes one goes hand in hand with the other…..we’ll see.

 

[eth-dog]

So we're writing him off this early into his career? He's miles away from being the finished product and is showing good signs. This is going to be another McGrath whinge fest isn't it?

Yes.

 

[Shanghaistu]

I don't like the pick and think we got it wrong.

However, on a positive side can find the footy and seems to have frame/ physical attributes suited to afl.

Like basketball specialists fixing a broken shot. Can we fix a broken kick?

A inside mid/run with player is best we can hope for. Seems they are pushing that line in vfl.

Also how much worse a kick than parish/shiel is he? Not like parish/shiel can kick and we are missing them a bit.

invested a top ten pick, so for any top ten pick you have already committed a lot so club need to give them at least 10-15 full afl games to see.

Can't believe has played 11 as can only remember a few as sub. Although 2nd half of last season I wiped from my memory.

Don’t worry, I heard they’re replaying our entire second half of last year on Fox footy again this year - just with 2024 headers (aka Saturday night )

 

[Darealrath]

Kicking is only part of the issue.

The other issue is that he’s simply not the player we (and many draft watchers) thought he was. He’s not an inside breakaway mid….which is 100% what we thought we drafted. That’s where the group think took place in my view.

There was mention on the Simmons pod a few weeks ago about how public mock drafts and draft projections result in some poor picks due to safety in consensus.

 

[Vander18]

There was mention on the Simmons pod a few weeks ago about how public mock drafts and draft projections result in some poor picks due to safety in consensus.

That’s the point I’m making.

 

[Darealrath]

That’s the point I’m making.

Yeah I know - I was debating with myself whether it's the same thing as group think or slightly different and then I agreed to disagree with myself and let it go

 

[Foxx]

I think he could get to a Darcy Parish

3

Darcy Parish

Age

26

Ht

180cm

Wt

81kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

20.4

5star

K

9.2

4star

HB

11.2

5star

M

3.2

3star

T

3.3

5star

CL

3.2

5star

D

16.6

4star

K

7.4

3star

HB

9.1

5star

M

1.4

2star

T

2.0

3star

CL

3.1

4star

D

22.2

5star

K

7.6

3star

HB

14.6

5star

M

3.2

4star

T

4.4

5star

CL

3.6

5star

level.
Very similar attributes and deficiencies.

Win it on the inside, hand it off to better users, or kick at around 60% efficiency.

If Caldwell misses games, perhaps Tsatas could be tried as that run with player.

 

[Vander18]

This is going to be another McGrath whinge fest isn't it?

Yes.

Oh please.

We talk about players here, it’s a forum….sometimes people will have a view on a player that isn’t all warm and fuzzy.

From my perspective - Tsatas seems like a great kid doing everything he can to get better. No issues with him all. My issue is with the people who made the decision to pick him at 5 and I think that’s true for pretty much everyone here.

That said, would love to be proven totally wrong on this and for Elijah to make me look like an idiot.

 

[ant555]

It’s a mindset change as much as a physical change. Maybe more so.

Sometimes one goes hand in hand with the other…..we’ll see.

May not matter if he can only hit a target two out of every five.

 

[ant555]

I think he could get to a Darcy Parish level.
Very similar attributes and deficiencies.

Win it on the inside, hand it off to better users, or kick at around 60% efficiency.

If Caldwell misses games, perhaps Tsatas could be tried as that run with player.

He does not have a Parish type issue. He has a flaw in his action where he losses all the timing and finesse when he tries to get any distance or power on the football. Parish just kicks high floaters.
This aside the question is should a club needing maximum value from its top end picks be taking on that much risk?
We now have 4 top 10 picks n the last 4 years that are still very much full of questions.

 

[andleanback]

Kicking is only part of the issue.

The other issue is that he’s simply not the player we (and many draft watchers) thought he was. He’s not an inside breakaway mid….which is 100% what we thought we drafted. That’s where the group think took place in my view.

Has he been given the opportunity to actually play that role yet though, pretty hard to know as really he’s only played wing and half forward at afl level. He’s got short burst speed, you don’t see that on the wing and when his confidence is down

 

[Vander18]

Has he been given the opportunity to actually play that role yet though, pretty hard to know as really he’s only played wing and half forward at afl level. He’s got short burst speed, you don’t see that on the wing and when his confidence is down

He’s not really bursting at VFL level either.

Not to say he can’t play - just that he’s more Parish (accumulator) than Durham (burst/impact player).

 

[NoWuckingFurries]

Well the first thing they need to do is play him in his position. We're getting smashed at the centre clearance. Play him there. No more sub, no more wing kind of bullshit
I have doubts but we need to be fair to him.

 

[Tazdog]

Bunch of geniuses we have here writing off a top 5 pick who is still a teenager and has played 5-6 games mostly as sub

**** me have some patience and support the kid teenager

 

[Vander18]

Bunch of geniuses we have here writing off a top 5 pick who is still a teenager and has played 5-6 games mostly as sub

**** me have some patience and support the kid teenager

That’s the clubs job.

This is forum to discuss club and players.

 

[yodellinhank]

Bunch of geniuses we have here writing off a top 5 pick who is still a teenager and has played 5-6 games mostly as sub

**** me have some patience and support the kid teenager

Easy to forget he's mid-late October born