The whole team should be able to kick goals from outside the 50m arc.
If they cannot, they should be dropped until they can.
Shesh, get Fletcher back to teach them.
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The coach was given 2 options and picked one based on who he saw has the better prototype for the modern game, rightly or wrongly.
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Of course a bloke who canāt kick, canāt run and isnāt a great tackler was the prototype for the modern game.
Onya BRADLEY
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Iām the prototype for the modern game apparently.
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The off season before, Richmond traded for Hopper and Taranto.
They are about Tsatasā āceilingā now. Obviously, we hoped heād be better than that.
The forward press was still king in 2022, so it wasnāt so much quality over quantity.
Since then, itās slowly been wrestled back. And Iād say thereās still more to tilt the scale towards slingshot / rebound footy is king than forward press. And I think the ruck rules will help tilt the game that way because the game wonāt be as much in the contest like the last decade.
Anywayā¦
If weāre to use the Blitz tropeā¦
Bradley may have asked Dodoro what his preference was and chose the other.
Thatās just as likely to work more often than not. Maybe this is the one time it didnāt work.
Regardlessā¦
Tsatas has a long way to go to develop into a consistent AFL footballer.
Geelong were big on Jhye Clark as the next Joel Sellwood and heās been left in the VFL to develop and even been shunted elsewhere when playing seniors because they have better options. West Coast were massive on Reuben Ginbey as their next big bodied midfielder. He was playing full back last year.
I still think Cam Mackenzie was the best prospect after Tsatas. Heās as close to Zach Merrett as you can get, but taller. His defensive side needs work which is why he isnāt getting games at Hawthorn.
I still donāt think Tsatas makes it.
He has a lot of demons to get over. And if he does some of the stuff thatās been seen at VFL level in the AFL, Iām not confident heās mentally strong enough to deal with the negativity that comes with it. To be honest, Iām not sure many sportsmen could handle that level of negativity.
Even if he has a good year, when he regresses, the pile on will come (Iām not just saying Blitz, not just Essendon fans, but general football media).
Heās tracking like a very good Port Melbourne football player.
He has this season to pretty much change that trend.
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Yeah good point, VFL players are often like that, high possession low impact.
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Is your middle name Tolstoy?
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Gets paid by the word.
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Must be quite well off
Came in here expecting with so many newbposts there would be comments on development. Instead read a whole lot of meaningless waffle and point scoring. More fo8l me for reading the last 70 posts
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Hey CJ that is what BB is mostly all about, and that is its charm and attraction.
I am not alluding to anything- nor am I eluding anything.
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Have to disagree that Tsatas wasnāt the type we needed & still desperately do. At the end of 2022 our midfield was the valley of the midgets (Zac, Parish, Shiel, Caldwell) & even drafting the towering 183cm Ben Hobbs the year before didnāt address the need to add some size & height in there especially a players whoās strength was clearances. The fact we recycled Setterfield also shows the need was there. We had the second least clearances for the 2022 season. I think its fair to say that the 2025 draft was highly focussed on finding that bigger bodied mid so the club seems to think its still a problem area.
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If height was the need, then we could have also gone for McKenzie or Pou.
Clearance wise we had just picked up Hobbs and traded for Caldwell. I would also say look at clearance differentials not clearance totals. We were mid table for differentials that year, even with Parish missing most of the year.
We simply didnāt need another mid that was a bad kick, was poor defensively, and wasnāt a good runner
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I think its fair to say that the weaknesses were not as well known then. By all reports Pou was the player we were tossing up between so again this highlights that a bigger & taller mid was very much a need & Tsatas was a highly rated player who fit that need. Which players or types do you think better suited requirements?
When 7 of the top 8 teams for total clearances are also 7 of the top 8 on the ladder I think thats a good indication of where we needed to improve.
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Watch some of his draft vids and you can see he didnāt have a good kicking action and lacked penetration. Plus he averaged less than 1 tackle a game as a junior which is horrible for an inside mid.
Are you talking 2022 stats? In 2022, Cats won the cup and were 9th for total clearance. Swans were 10th and Pies were 13th.
If weāre talking, more recently, Bulldogs, North and Blues were top 5 for total clearance and didnāt make finals. The game just isnāt about clearance as much as it used to be, as in more a transition game
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The stats Iām looking at have Brisbane with the most then Geelong, Sydney, Dogs, Melbourne, Freo & Collingwood. Are you just looking at centre clearances or am I looking at it wrong? Has it included finals possibly? If I look at 2025 again Brisbane who of course won the flag have the most clearances even by average so its still an important metric & an area we needed to improve in. I think thats why we went for Tsatas & why we picked Robey & Sharp last year. With Tsatas I can only assume we didnāt rate his kicking as badly as what it has been at AFL level (heās better in the VFL) & probably thought his defensive side could be worked on. He was rated by almost everyone at 5 so it wasnāt a stretch by any means.
When you look at Dogs, Blues & even North I think what stands out is that the midfield is by far the area where all those teams are strongest. Dogs & Carlton in particular have much better midfields than we do & North have the leagues best ruckman, LDU & even Luke Parker had more clearances than our highest ranked mid.
Kicked a good goal today under pressure with no time to fluff around with his kicking technique - straight through the middle from 40 m out 
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Have you tried wheelo for stats? AFL Team Statistics
I donāt know how you can use AFL tables without getting a headache. Also AFL tables doesnāt account for different numbers of games played which is why the stats are different and why your seeing such a strong correlation between total clearances and playing finals. Finalists play more matches and therefore have more clearances.
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Even worse, the whole team should be able to kick goals from WITHIN the 50m arc.
Even direct in front from under 20m there have been egregious missed shots. Like, shots on goal a primary school kid could get. But no worries, have a laugh and get selected again next week. No care, no responsibility.