Player Watch Welcome to Port Adelaide Esava Ratugolea, Finally
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Yeah I know.
It was an excellent double fist that landed a fair distance away from the pack so that is great but I would've thought that he would've been super confident taking so many marks but it was a big pack IIRC and you have to go with it because he had such a great game.
- Sep 25, 2013
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Hmmmm so our defence looked better today without Sav. Especially Alir and BZT.
May just be coincidence. May be the opposition. May be that AA and BZT just stepped up in this game.
And maybe they just need more time to gel and Esava needs more time to develop his craft.
Or maybe he just isn’t the player we thought, hoped and need.
If this is the case, what do we do?
Is it worth trialling him as a key forward who pinch hits in the ruck? He wasn’t terrible in this role at Geelong and we need a big body who can take a contested grab.
May just be coincidence. May be the opposition. May be that AA and BZT just stepped up in this game.
And maybe they just need more time to gel and Esava needs more time to develop his craft.
Or maybe he just isn’t the player we thought, hoped and need.
If this is the case, what do we do?
Is it worth trialling him as a key forward who pinch hits in the ruck? He wasn’t terrible in this role at Geelong and we need a big body who can take a contested grab.
I said 2 things when we went after him.
Having those 3 talls is going to present a challenge in terms of losing run from the back half and less players having more responsibility there
That’s come true.
And I was concerned about esavas fit with Alir. I just wasn’t sure about the two of them fitting as esava looks like Kmart Alir.
Yeah, to my eye Alir and bzt looked better without esava , and our defence in general looks better.
small sample size but the sample size with them together also tells the same story
You could bite the bullet and accept esava as great depth, but gee pick 25, which cost us our 1st rounder this year, which we all agree is likely to be anywhere from 5-12 was a big price to pay.
I’ve got zero doubt we went into all our trades desperate and easily taken advantage of thanks to orders from the top being to give Hinkley senior ready players to try to justify their decision to sign him yet again.
We’re throwing good money after bad non-stop now.
Having those 3 talls is going to present a challenge in terms of losing run from the back half and less players having more responsibility there
That’s come true.
And I was concerned about esavas fit with Alir. I just wasn’t sure about the two of them fitting as esava looks like Kmart Alir.
Yeah, to my eye Alir and bzt looked better without esava , and our defence in general looks better.
small sample size but the sample size with them together also tells the same story
You could bite the bullet and accept esava as great depth, but gee pick 25, which cost us our 1st rounder this year, which we all agree is likely to be anywhere from 5-12 was a big price to pay.
I’ve got zero doubt we went into all our trades desperate and easily taken advantage of thanks to orders from the top being to give Hinkley senior ready players to try to justify their decision to sign him yet again.
We’re throwing good money after bad non-stop now.
I’d be most comfortable if our defence had Aliir, BZT and a fit McKenzie playing out the rest of the year. Ratugolea probably would do more than Lord up forward and could pinch hit in ruck.
Esava is a failed forward I'd rather just plug games into Lord.
PortAdelFC1997
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- Jun 12, 2015
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For anyone who wants Rats to be a forward. Remember this?
He has already had a worse one for us in defence
He cant play football and you generally hide those players in the fwd/ruck role, because they arent expected to be any good at either position. With Dixon retiring and Finlayson sucking its a perfect fit.
Whats the problem? I'd have done the same thing to hawkins
Yeah, Geelong , who are better coached than us tried esava up forward and he sucked so they tried him back.
Kf is a harder position, and esava is the quintessential athlete over footballer.
We’ve seen him have a cpl of quality games, but I suspect that will be the pattern. Cpl of quality games here and there.
- Mar 1, 2014
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Re Ratugolea and punching what looked like a certain geebung goal back into play, I only saw a pic of the incident as I didn't watch the game live, but it reminded me of a game for Port where he apparently took a chest mark behind the goal line resulting in a score to the oppo, where if he had taken a step forward it wouldn't have been a score at all.
Unfortunately both scenarios could suggest the lack of a football brain, which is the one asset that can't be taught, ie a player either has it, or they don't!
Unfortunately both scenarios could suggest the lack of a football brain, which is the one asset that can't be taught, ie a player either has it, or they don't!
He's an athlete not a footballer. Always has been. You can't fault his effort but he was never worth what we paid to get him. His career at Geelong said as much and his start with us has proven it.
Yes, this shows that Esava Ratugolea has no football brain and should never go anywhere near a football field.
Meanwhile, here's Max Gawn robbing Melbourne of 5 points ensuring they go out of the Finals in straight sets...
‘That’s a goal otherwise’: Max Gawn’s brutal late blunder proves costly in finals thriller
‘That’s a goal otherwise’: Max Gawn’s brutal late blunder proves costly in finals thriller
www.foxsports.com.au
But we should never have paid what we did for Esava. Simply should've been a third round take it or leave it offer and picked him up in the pre-season draft.
- Jul 1, 2014
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Put him on the wing ..
He's a beast athletically
He's a beast athletically
pastmyprimus
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McKenzie in his prime was a better footballer. A good decision maker, a great kick and a strong mark. And we picked him as a delisted free agent. Just a shame he keeps breaking down so often
- Mar 1, 2014
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Fair point, a mate of mine reckons Ratugolea is a bigger and stronger version of Cam O'Shea, who from memory regularly copped the `athlete not a footballer' comments.
Esava was drafted as an athletic forward/ruck project, Geelong tried over several years to work on his football IQ. Eventually they moved him back as it is easier to teach defensive work. The problem is in a good system he looks competent, but in what ever the hell system port uses he struggles.
You would think a competent football dept would recognise this & modify its defensive system to suit the players limitations..
You would think a competent football dept would recognise this & modify its defensive system to suit the players limitations..
Rightfully so, questions are going to be asked if the backline is better without him.
I do wonder if it's because of his absence or because Bergman is very good in the backlines
I do wonder if it's because of his absence or because Bergman is very good in the backlines
- Mar 1, 2014
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Spot on. At Geelong Esava began his career as a forward come ruckman but was moved into defence. We appear to have traded Esava in as a tall defender to go with Aliir. The problem is we traded Zerk-Thatcher in as well. You have to wonder why we went after two tall defenders. I suspect we took Esava because he was available and wanted to come to Port.
Esava Ratugolea, who has Fijian ancestry, is one one of those converts who started playing rugby and soccer and only switched to Aussie Rules as a teenager when his parents moved from NSW to Victoria. I am not sure that this pathway has helped his development. Esava has the physique to be a good player but I am not sure that he has the AFL smarts to go with it. I definitely would not be using him as a defender unless there is an injury and I think it is time to try him in the forward/ruck role. If that does not work our Football Department might need to admit that they got it wrong and say thanks and goodbye.
Knowing Ken as we do, Esava will recover from injury and it will be back to the defence for Esava and at the same time Ken will recall Jed McEntee.
FishingRick04
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End of the day we need depth, yes we over paid, but at least it gives Walsh time and us options, someone will get injured or reported
Esava needs to be coached hard. That's all.
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