GEELONG ruck coach Brad Ottens says Esava Ratugolea looks to have a spring in his step after a two-week hiatus from the senior side.
Ratugolea was managed for the Cats’ Round 9 clash with the Bulldogs and returned to the lineup on Saturday to produce one of his best performances of the young season.
“It’s exciting because when you see him playing like that you get a little glimpse into what he’s capable of,” Ottens says.
“It was great to see him just playing with a bit of instinct and with a bit of confidence. It’s been a bit of a tough month for him so just for him to bounce back and look like he was enjoying his footy – it was great to watch.
“It looked like he was happy to compete and play on real instinct. I think the couple of weeks off definitely really helped him with that.”
Ottens is envious of the rare physical talent possessed by the athletic tall.
When Ratugolea steamed out of full forward, gathered a ball at his bootlaces and spun on a dime to kick truly early in the third term, the three-time premiership Cat knew it was something he would never have dreamed of in his prime.
“He’s got some amazing physical attributes. To be able to move like that as a big bloke – it must be nice. I wouldn’t know what that felt like,” Ottens says.
“Some of the things he did on the weekend were really important and really special.”
A particular area of interest for Ottens as the Cats’ ruck coach is Ratugolea’s untapped potential in the ruck.
“He’s got of natural ability as a ruckman I reckon. He seemed like earlier in the year he was overthinking a lot of it.
“His ability at ground level is probably superior to any opponent that he’s going to come up against. His ability to follow up after the contest is really good – that keeps him in the game.
“I think there’s so much raw potential with Sav. There’s probably been a lot of expectation with him, not within the club – I think that’s been managed really well.
“There’s no doubt in his physical ability – its just trying to find that consistency which he’s working really hard on. It’s good to see him getting some reward for it.
