AFL Player # 5: Elijah Tsatas

[TheGrizz]

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

 

[cAsEy_18]

I, and a few others, were keen to keep Massimo for the very reason he was an elite kick. As a club we seem to be happy to recruit and persist with players with poor disposal (try to fix) but aren’t willing so much to recruit and persist with players that have other weaknesses but elite disposal.


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It’s disappointing/poor timing, as the knock on Mass was on his defense - both his overall defensive capabilities, but also his lack of defensive mindset, and taking too long to understand where to be in a given situation.

It made seeing him as a half-back in Scott’s side very difficult to imagine… but many others including myself wanted to see him trialled as a high half-forward. His ball use entering 50 would have been extremely useful.

Scott appeared to take last year to assess what he had, what was on the list etc… and now this year has been really flexible in moving guys around, which has been great to see. I do wonder if we would’ve seen a successfully positional change with Mass this year had he still been here.

 

[EnolaGay]

cAsEy_18 spot on. Similar to your view, we should’ve been looking to where we could play him to his strengths, not as a small defender who’d be isolated one out in the defensive goal square.

Mitchell saw his strength and is maximising it.

Imagine his delivery into our F50 versus the bombing garbage we’ve seen in the last 4-5 rounds.


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[Howard Moon]

For a pick, yes.

For a pick that we can piss up against the wall again? Nah

Atleast trade for a commodity we have all seen play who can hit the ball with their foot

 

[Nicholas61]

The bloke we never talk about as an hindsight option with this pick is Ginbey. He’s a big brute with some swagger. I like him. Obviously being a WA boy was a barrier….

Big bodied midfielder solved! He is a very physical player (but fair at the same time).

 

[Howard Moon]

Big bodied midfielder solved! He is a very physical player (but fair at the same time).

Bailey Humphrey probably the right pick to replace stringer

 

[Nicholas61]

This is my bugbear. Teams like Sydney have recruiters who prioritise elite ball use and hardness at the contest. I'm not even sure what ours do, except the whole 'get the spine right first' business, and we didn't get that right either.

They are probably the two hardest things to change. n if there is a kicking issue (maybe not on a Tsatas level) you would bank on Sydney to iron it out. Whilst we have turnovers and general butchery we don't go the next step, it will be pulling teeth like the Carlton match. There was a pattern with Dodoro selections over the past decade: accumulation, undersize, below average foot skills. Remember that Anzac match where Shiel (got in the late 30s from memory) took the game on like Judd but couldn't hit the barn door - was thinking did we even look at this guys kicking before burning 2 first rounders?

 

[Howard Moon]

They are probably the two hardest things to change. n if there is a kicking issue (maybe not on a Tsatas level) you would bank on Sydney to iron it out. Whilst we have turnovers and general butchery we don't go the next step, it will be pulling teeth like the Carlton match. There was a pattern with Dodoro selections over the past decade: accumulation, undersize, below average foot skills. Remember that Anzac match where Shiel (got in the late 30s from memory) took the game on like Judd but couldn't hit the barn door - was thinking did we even look at this guys kicking before burning 2 first rounders?

He probably didn't have to kick much at gws with what was around him, just join the tsunami. Anyway if we are talking about the recruiting good kicks we had a great kick that fell in our lap that we gave to Hawthorn for some idiotic reason

 

[Old Campaigner]

I get that picks are speculative, but I'm starting to wonder if our whole recruiting department is dysfuncional, because nothing seems balanced. We've been very lucky with some of the mid season pickups, but if we hadn't gotten those guys I think our team would be stuffed.

It probably doesn’t help that there’s been succession of different coaches with their own differing opinions on what they want to build the list around. The current coach is being forced to build a particular game plan around players drafted for some other purpose and that won’t be easy.

Compare that to Sydney where there’s been a long-standing position supporting a strategy built on hardness and elite ball use.

 

[Maxabillions]

Any chance people are overreacting a bit? I bloody hope so

 

[faible]

This is my bugbear. Teams like Sydney have recruiters who prioritise elite ball use and hardness at the contest. I'm not even sure what ours do, except the whole 'get the spine right first' business, and we didn't get that right either.

FWIW Since 2010 for Sydney 7(+4):

Heeney (A)
Mills (A)
Florent
Hayward
Blakey (A)
McDonald
Campbell (A)
*Sheldrick
*Konstanty
*Green
*Cleary

4 of their 7 first rounders playing regular AFL right now are also Academy selections that they may not otherwise have had access to.

Meanwhile since 2010 they've had these guys also taken as first rounders:

Jed Lamb
Tom Mitchell (F/S)
Dean Towers
Zak Jones
Matthew Ling
Dylan Stephens

So even Sydney has plenty of busts out of their first rounders, they've just had the side benefit of the Academy to prop it up. Gulden was also an Academy player as a 2nd rounder.

 

[mike ross]

Any chance people are overreacting a bit? I bloody hope so

Are we also forgetting he was coming through during the covid period? I personally think we are being way too harsh on a kid that's missed a lot of footy. He just needs some time. It's not like the other draftees are tearing it up either. Look at Phillopou and Humphrey.

 

[Nicholas61]

He probably didn't have to kick much at gws with what was around him, just join the tsunami. Anyway if we are talking about the recruiting good kicks we had a great kick that fell in our lap that we gave to Hawthorn for some idiotic reason

It shows you the lack of thinking back then with Shiel - we weren't looking at his features and if that translates into how we will play him and how he fits into the existing group. Unfortunately we ended up in a situation with a number of guys we prefer not to kick but handball. Massimo is a good decision maker as well as kick - we didn't show we wanted him enough until it was too late.

 

[nipst@r]

I am not sure the best way forward is to hold on to ineffective players just because our recruiters and list managers don't know what they are doing.

We need to find competent recruiters and list managers.

What? Not happy with dodos ability to build finals winning lists over the last 20 years. . Just needs a bit of luck.

Great mentor for the list and recruiting staff, not sure if anyone will have a longer lasting legacy over essendon. His 30+ year hold over essendon will be told for centuries to come.

 

[ant555]

I, and a few others, were keen to keep Massimo for the very reason he was an elite kick. As a club we seem to be happy to recruit and persist with players with poor disposal (try to fix) but aren’t willing so much to recruit and persist with players that have other weaknesses but elite disposal.


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I understand the calls for Mass . It would be good to have his kicking . I still do not have an issue with letting him go personally as I still value fixing the team defense as the number one thing we need to do and Mass is simply a poor defender but it is a double edged sword as turnovers are also killing us. I just do not think we have the list set up for us to use Mass like the Hawks do.
My initial reason for not wanting Tsatas was he is not a natural defender either. He has been better on the tackling front but his transition is not great.
It does make it a bit of a strange decision to move on one bloke who has a skill that few of our blokes have .

 

[ant555]

cAsEy_18 spot on. Similar to your view, we should’ve been looking to where we could play him to his strengths, not as a small defender who’d be isolated one out in the defensive goal square.

Mitchell saw his strength and is maximising it.

Imagine his delivery into our F50 versus the bombing garbage we’ve seen in the last 4-5 rounds.


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Mitchell had the advantage of building a different game plan based of speed in the back half so they where willing to use him on the wing and cover his lack of defense with their midfielders. They allow Mass to just quarterback the footy.
Not sure we where in the same spot with Scott coming in on the basis we fix the team defense that has been an issue for us for 15 years.

 

[Seb78]

Any chance people are overreacting a bit? I bloody hope so

they are. Wasn't too long ago everyone thought Petracca was a flop. Did sweet FA in his first 3 or 4 seasons. Then burst on the scene like a beast and still going.
Tsatas will be fine. We still need a big bull type in the guts with him aka (Harley Reid) wink wink...... and the likes of Tsatas, Durham, Caldwell, Hobbs etc.. will flourish. Future looks bright imo.

 

[ant555]

they are. Wasn't too long ago everyone thought Petracca was a flop. Did sweet FA in his first 3 or 4 seasons. Then burst on the scene like a beast and still going.
Tsatas will be fine. We still need a big bull type in the guts with him aka (Harley Reid) wink wink...... and the likes of Tsatas, Durham, Caldwell, Hobbs etc.. will flourish. Future looks bright imo.

Totally different situation with Petracca. The point is they have spent over 12 months trying to fix his kicking and there has been zero improvement.
He can play but he is going to turn the football over a lot and that is the issue.
Treloar basically drove Pies supporters in sane for doing the same thing. We have had the same experience with Shiel and to. Lesser degree with Parish.
The question is why take that risk.
It is not an over reaction at all .
You are happy that we average over 9 goals against on turnover and one of our future hopes is not going to help that even if he does improve his kicking from 35% efficiency ?
To top it off he is average as far as defensive transition goes.

 

[ant555]

Any chance people are overreacting a bit? I bloody hope so

I hope so too but over 12 months of focus on his kicking behind the scenes for no improvement is a big flashing light .

 

[fairbump_playon]

I hope so too but over 12 months of focus on his kicking behind the scenes for no improvement is a big flashing light .

Unfortunately he looks the type who would be working diligently on it too

 

[ghostdog]

They are probably the two hardest things to change. n if there is a kicking issue (maybe not on a Tsatas level) you would bank on Sydney to iron it out. Whilst we have turnovers and general butchery we don't go the next step, it will be pulling teeth like the Carlton match. There was a pattern with Dodoro selections over the past decade: accumulation, undersize, below average foot skills. Remember that Anzac match where Shiel (got in the late 30s from memory) took the game on like Judd but couldn't hit the barn door - was thinking did we even look at this guys kicking before burning 2 first rounders?

Yet Shiel, before injury, was able to make good fixing both his defensive efforts and his kicking, so we should be confident the same can be achieved with Tsatas, shouldn't we?
I don't know enough about technical skills to know, but when a guy like ant555, who has coached before, turns and says he doesn't think it can be fixed, that just makes me think we burned the pick. That would be a disaster and the alarm bells should then be ringing internally with respect to the skill set and attributes we prioritise in drafting and recruiting. To me it should be hardness at the contest and skills. None of the rest matters if you can't get possession and always turn over possession when you do.

 

[fairbump_playon]

Yet Shiel, before injury, was able to make good fixing both his defensive efforts and his kicking, so we should be confident the same can be achieved with Tsatas, shouldn't we?
I don't know enough about technical skills to know, but when a guy like ant555, who has coached before, turns and says he doesn't think it can be fixed, that just makes me think we burned the pick. That would be a disaster and the alarm bells should then be ringing internally with respect to the skill set and attributes we prioritise in drafting and recruiting. To me it should be hardness at the contest and skills. None of the rest matters if you can't get possession always turn over possession when you do.

Hardness, instinct to defend, skills, running ability

 

[ghostdog]

Hardness, instinct to defend, skills, running ability

Soz, yes, I'd include defensive instinct together with hardness at the contest. I'm talking hardness of the Caldwell-Durham and to a less extent but on his way, Hobbs type.

I think running ability can be coached but that's beside the point. I think those first two should always be the priority.

Dylan Stephens is interesting to me. Has classy skills and running ability but seems to have vanished.

 

[FlyingV]

Tbh, one of the biggest issues with Lij is that he lacks versatility. Right now he needs to be played in the guts at the drop of the ball where he doesn’t need to be clean by foot, can use his explosiveness and his twitchy quick handballs are useful.

If I were the coach, I’d stick him at half back for a while in the VFL. There he can use his pace and work on trying to retain the ball by foot. It will be a sh!t show for a while, but hopefully can build some confidence in moving the ball by foot when uncontested. Isn’t this what the VFL is for with AFL clubs?

Just a thought.

 

[ant555]

Tbh, one of the biggest issues with Lij is that he lacks versatility. Right now he needs to be played in the guts at the drop of the ball where he doesn’t need to be clean by foot, can use his explosiveness and his twitchy quick handballs are useful.

If I were the coach, I’d stick him at half back for a while in the VFL. There he can use his pace and work on trying to retain the ball by foot. It will be a sh!t show for a while, but hopefully can build some confidence in moving the ball by foot when uncontested. Isn’t this what the VFL is for with AFL clubs?

Just a thought.

They have used him in a run with role the last couple of weeks.
I hope they can do something with him but there has not been much progress on the kicking front.

 

[faible]

Judd was able to reinvent himself as a beast inside midfielder post OP. Tsatas might not be exactly the player we thought we were drafting (he's still young, so even that's TBC) but he has plenty of football ability and a frame that'll carry weight. More than anything he needs physical maturity to see exactly what he's going to become.