Elijah Tsatas

Elijah Tsatas (born 18 October 2004) is an Australian footballer who plays for Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was selected as the fifth pick in the 2022 AFL draft.

Essendon reportedly rejected several lucrative trade offers from other clubs in order to secure Tsatas with their top draft pick. Prior to selection, Tsatas suffered a serious foot injury that prevented him from playing for three months. He eventually recovered in time to score well in games before being interviewed for the draft.

Tsatas is a midfielder-wingman who is described as a player who "can run and carry, has a knack of finding space at stoppages, and has good disposal". Tsatas was showing good form in his first preseason with the Essendon Football Club, but then suffered an acute meniscus tear in his knee that required surgery and saw him miss the start of the AFL season. After recovering from the injury, Tsatas made his debut with the Essendon VFL team in round 11, playing 3 quarters and registering a goal with his first kick in the VFL, 18 disposals and 4 marks.

Tsatas grew up in Burwood and played junior football for Surrey Park Panthers in the YJFL. He also played school football for Wesley College in the APS.

Tsatas was teammates with Bailey Macdonald at Surrey Park, Wesley College, and Oakleigh Chargers.

Statistics Updated to the end of round 22, 2026.

22 !! 4 !! 5 !! 172 !! 193 !! 365 !! 64 !! 31 !! 0.2 !! 0.2 !! 7.8 !! 8.8 !! 16.6 !! 2.9 !! 1.4 !! 0