Essendon draftee Elijah Tsatas admits the Bombers gave very little away regarding their plans to select him.
Coach Brad Scott visited Tsatas at his house in the lead-up to Monday night’s National Draft but still the Oakleigh Chargers midfielder was not certain.
He admits he was none the wiser when his name was called out at pick 5.
“They didn’t give much away,” he said on SEN’s Sportsday.
“That was expected coming in, I think they wanted to keep their cards pretty close to their chest and have a bit of intrigue around the pick.
“But I’m super grateful it did fall this way. I couldn’t be happier.”
Tsatas, who nursed a foot injury during the season, is planning to hit the ground running with the Bombers.
He is eager to play senior footy immediately in 2023 and set standards among the club’s younger brigade.
“Absolutely, I’m going to give myself the best chance,” he added.
“Head down, bum up, work my tail off and see if I can play early next year.
“I’m going to get after it, I’m going to train hard and those standards that I’m going to try and set coming in early will hopefully get into the other young boys. I hope that has a trickle effect.
“I’m definitely going to work really hard.”
Tsatas says the messaging from Scott, provided the club did draft him, was all around allowing the Chargers best and fairest to flourish in black and red.
“He was just super confident on what he can do with the club and how everyone is shaping,” Tsatas said further.
“Just working on my strengths and just really trying to develop my game so I can really be a weapon for the Bombers, hopefully.”
Not long after he was drafted, Tsatas discovered his date of birth was just over a month after Essendon’s last finals victory in September, 2004.
“I did see that actually,” he laughed.
“I had no idea, that caught me off guard a bit. Let’s see if we can change that.”
The Bombers could have taken a number of other players with pick 5, namely Mattaes Phillipou, but opted to go with Tsatas.
List boss Adrian Dodoro revealed the club’s reasons for selecting the on-baller, citing his ball-winning ability as a major strength the Dons were happy to add.
“It was tough because they were two players that we felt would have been a good fit for us,” he said on SEN Breakfast.
“At the end of the day, you can’t take them all, you can only take one. We were really comfortable that Elijah is the player that we felt would help our midfield.
“He’s a nice 186-187cm mid, bigger size with power speed. He’s a natural ball finder so we thought he’d help us.
“Mattaes is going to be a great player as well, so you know, that’s the way it goes. You can’t have them all.”
Tsatas is one of four players that Essendon drafted this week alongside Lewis Hayes (pick 25), plus father-son selections Alwyn Davey Jnr (pick 45) and Jayden Davey (pick 54).