Player Watch Welcome to Port Adelaide Esava Ratugolea, Finally

[RangaInTeal]

Like we already had in Duursma!

Durrsma, as much as I love him and the story, the culture etc. he was an expendable piece that was pretty easily covered in Burgoyne, Burgmann, Lorenz, Mead, etc. he has gone to Essendon and not moved their needle one way or another.

Best luck to him moving forward.

 

[chiwigi]

There was a number of incidents where Ratugolea would use his size and brute strength to win the ball.

A lot of times Marshall would just be either soft, or wait for the ball to come to him and a defender would kill the contest.

Insane that these 2 guys are only a few months apart in age.

Or intercept and run it straight back at us!

 

[Ford Fairlane]

I love Esava's attack on the ball and his ability to take a hanger. He has worked really well around Mitch and Charlie.

Hinkley said he came over with the intent of playing as a defender, but he looks to really enjoy being a forward focal target.

 

[Tibbs]

Mmmh! Maybe an unpopular opinion, but watching his kicking again... He is not too bad. He runs straight and smooth, he kicks nicely through the ball, the ball moves nicely through the air, and his ball drop isn't nearly as bad as many big men in the comp.

Each of his misses were accuracy related. He is not allowing for wind, natural swing, he seems to just aim for the middle, with the ball swinging and just missing.

Wouldn't take much to get him ok with a good kicking coach.

Now that's another story!

 

[Skindy]

Sunken cost fallacy.

Sunk cost fallacy only applies where irrational decisions are made to delay realising a loss. Marshall is not a lost cause. Do you sell off all your investments due to a period of negative market returns?

If a superior player can be obtained with Marshalls cap space then by all means we should move him on however I very much doubt there's an established forward of that quality out there willing to come to us and the odds of finding one in the draft are slim to none.

 

[n4nirvana]

LOVE ESAVA CRASH BANGING EVERYTHING

 

[Ford Fairlane]

 

[1954]

Mmmh! Maybe an unpopular opinion, but watching his kicking again... He is not too bad. He runs straight and smooth, he kicks nicely through the ball, the ball moves nicely through the air, and his ball drop isn't nearly as bad as many big men in the comp.

Each of his misses were accuracy related. He is not allowing for wind, natural swing, he seems to just aim for the middle, with the ball swinging and just missing.

Wouldn't take much to get him ok with a good kicking coach.

Now that's another story!

Agreed there is absolutely nothing wrong with Esava's technique or are there any comparisons with his ball drop to that of Butch, where too often the latter's foot had to search for where the ball was so he could make contact with it which regularly resulted in it going at right angles.

He has the basics, he just needs `a good kicking coach' to teach him the nuances of what is required to become more accurate for any specific shot, and/or weather conditions.

 

[Shaucob_Burjan]

The thing you don't see about Esava playing forward is him playing from behind his defender.

 

[JohnHinckleyJr]

Butcher and Gray recarnated

 

[Incarnate]

Absolute unit. Stick him in the goal square and 50. Great point of difference leading into finals in the forward line or as a potential switch man. Look forward to see him develop over the next 18 months and hope he can flourish with confidence.

 

[JimmyBC]

I think believing Esava is a forward god after two weeks is a touch out of hand.

 

[HugeJohnson]

I think believing Esava is a forward god after two weeks is a touch out of hand.

I think he's shown more in these 2 weeks as a forward than he has the whole season in defense where he regularly turned it over and cost us goals. It's much safer for him and the team up forward where he doesn't have to second guess himself so much, it's just see ball, get ball.

 

[raptalia]

The simplest of things, using the seams of the ball on the fingers to guide ball to boot seems to be where he fails, maybe spreads the hands to much or its to pronounced?

Yes, that is an excellent point. It may sound old hat but I was coached to use the stitching on the ball as a guide in set shots on goal. Line up with the goal allowing for wind etc, lower your head and watch the ball onto the boot. There is a technique and you do not lift your head during the kick. If you line up correctly and watch the ball onto the boot you do not have to look at the goals until the after boot makes contact with the ball. Lifting the head too early and taking the eyes off the football during the kicking action is a common fault with many players.

 

[Phhht]

Yes, that is an excellent point. It may sound old hat but I was coached to use the stitching on the ball as a guide in set shots on goal. Line up with the goal allowing for wind etc, lower your head and watch the ball onto the boot. There is a technique and you do not lift your head during the kick. If you line up correctly and watch the ball onto the boot you do not have to look at the goals until the after boot makes contact with the ball. Lifting the head too early and taking the eyes off the football during the kicking action is a common fault with many players.

Forget stitching, if your ball drop starts above the waist, no chance of reliable accurate regular set shot kicking.

Compare the pair







V the GOAT







My concern is his ball drop hasn't improved since Geelong forward days. With Hawkins 'mentoring' him it would be concerning his ball drop hasnt been addressed.

That said, his contested marking and physicality is a significant point of difference between him and Marshall.

Would I prefer Rat kicking for goal over Marshall.. no way. Is Rat a much better cog in the way our forward line works, 100%.

 

[FootyLad0]

Mmmh! Maybe an unpopular opinion, but watching his kicking again... He is not too bad. He runs straight and smooth, he kicks nicely through the ball, the ball moves nicely through the air, and his ball drop isn't nearly as bad as many big men in the comp.

Each of his misses were accuracy related. He is not allowing for wind, natural swing, he seems to just aim for the middle, with the ball swinging and just missing.

Wouldn't take much to get him ok with a good kicking coach.

Now that's another story!

He worked directly with Tom Hawkins and couldn't get the hang of it.
It's not just goal kicking either.

His footy IQ is just...ergh
He would constantly get lost out of position.

 

[1954]

He worked directly with Tom Hawkins and couldn't get the hang of it.
It's not just goal kicking either.

His footy IQ is just...ergh
He would constantly get lost out of position.

Esava's lack of `footy IQ' was evident in his first pre-season trial for Port against the fruit tingles when Aliir ripped into him on a number of occasions for his poor positioning.

As you say he `got lost,' and for some unknown reason just wandered off into no man's land and away from the direction of play leaving Aliir with 2 opponents to cover 30 metres from goal, and many of us have probably seen his absolute brain fart for your mob when he jumped above the pack in the Geelong goal square and punched a certain goal for Hawkins back into play, which unfortunately suggests he forgot which position he was supposed to be playing.

The above aside though he has been a presence for his 2 games in Port's forward line, with Dixon and more particularly Georgiadis at this stage benefitting from it.
Whether that continues of course remains to be seen, but even on his bad days he has to be less of a risk in the forward line than the heart in the mouth vibes he regularly gave Port supporters when he was in defence.

 

[FootyLad0]

Esava's lack of `footy IQ' was evident in his first pre-season trial for Port against the fruit tingles when Aliir ripped into him on a number of occasions for his poor positioning.

As you say he `got lost,' and for some unknown reason just wandered off into no man's land and away from the direction of play leaving Aliir with 2 opponents to cover 30 metres from goal, and many of us have probably seen his absolute brain fart for your mob when he jumped above the pack in the Geelong goal square and punched a certain goal for Hawkins back into play, which unfortunately suggests he forgot which position he was supposed to be playing.

The above aside though he has been a presence for his 2 games in Port's forward line, with Dixon and more particularly Georgiadis at this stage benefitting from it.
Whether that continues of course remains to be seen, but even on his bad days he has to be less of a risk in the forward line than the heart in the mouth vibes he regularly gave Port supporters when he was in defence.

I hope for your sake he figures it out but at this stage i think Big Sav will always be under the "potential" label.

We started him as a forward and when he couldn't figure that out we moved him into the ruck and he just didn't have the chops for that so he got moved back to VFL and changed to a key back position as Scotty was a huge believer in him and wanted him to succeed even when most Cats fans had already given up on him. He barely got a gig in 2022 when we had guys missing the season early with injury but once they got healthy he was nowhere near the side and it showed. WOn 16 in a row and i doubt he would have played any of those wins on the way to a dominant Finals campaign and Grand Final win.

The fact he got soo much run with the side in 2023 suggests how much of a buttload of injuries the Cats had. The Sydney game at SCG comes to mind for frustration in him. Clearly misses his defensive assignment and Stewart blew up on him for a full minute. Sounds very similar to Aliir cracking the shits over the same sort of stuff. Just wandering into no man's land and getting caught out.

He has all the tools to be a gun footy player.
Size, athleticism, strong arms and legs, can lay a tackle, doesn't shy away from contact, can take a grab.
His footy IQ is just negative 1000.
You are just better off half the time not playing him and i like Sav the person...he's just....yeah i hope he finally figures it out.

 

[Lefti93]

I hope for your sake he figures it out but at this stage i think Big Sav will always be under the "potential" label.

We started him as a forward and when he couldn't figure that out we moved him into the ruck and he just didn't have the chops for that so he got moved back to VFL and changed to a key back position as Scotty was a huge believer in him and wanted him to succeed even when most Cats fans had already given up on him. He barely got a gig in 2022 when we had guys missing the season early with injury but once they got healthy he was nowhere near the side and it showed. WOn 16 in a row and i doubt he would have played any of those wins on the way to a dominant Finals campaign and Grand Final win.

The fact he got soo much run with the side in 2023 suggests how much of a buttload of injuries the Cats had. The Sydney game at SCG comes to mind for frustration in him. Clearly misses his defensive assignment and Stewart blew up on him for a full minute. Sounds very similar to Aliir cracking the shits over the same sort of stuff. Just wandering into no man's land and getting caught out.

He has all the tools to be a gun footy player.
Size, athleticism, strong arms and legs, can lay a tackle, doesn't shy away from contact, can take a grab.
His footy IQ is just negative 1000.
You are just better off half the time not playing him and i like Sav the person...he's just....yeah i hope he finally figures it out.

First round pick worth ai Mackie?

 

[Blinky Nyland]

Mmmh! Maybe an unpopular opinion, but watching his kicking again... He is not too bad. He runs straight and smooth, he kicks nicely through the ball, the ball moves nicely through the air, and his ball drop isn't nearly as bad as many big men in the comp.

Each of his misses were accuracy related. He is not allowing for wind, natural swing, he seems to just aim for the middle, with the ball swinging and just missing.

Wouldn't take much to get him ok with a good kicking coach.

Now that's another story!

The direction of each of his shots on Saturday pretty much tracked in the direction of his follow through. Correcting that should help his accuracy.

 

[JimmyBC]

No future as a forward.

 

[Sleezy]

We are going to regret this contract...

 

[Schulzenfest]

St Kilda traded their first rounder for Andrew Lovett who ended up getting charged with being a sex pest that offseason and never played a game for them.

That was a better use of their first rounder than the one we used to trade for this spud. At least Lovett didn't stink it up on the field every week for the Saints.

 

[Visenfest]

Was shit, but not as shit as Dixon. I think the selection choice was actually between Dixon and Marshall, not Esava and Marshall. Still not sure where he fits for us though - hasn’t done well in defence or up forward.

 

[Ported]

Outside of a couple of players who are physically past it, i'm willing to suspend any judgement on players until after a new coach/direction is implemented.