Elijah Tsatas’ road to an AFL debut in 2023 took serious patience, but it provided an important source of motivation for the young Bomber.

The explosive midfielder felt poised to make an immediate impact upon joining the club with their first pick (fifth overall) in the 2022 national draft, until a meniscus tear suffered in pre-season saw the emerging talent sidelined for the best part of six months.

Overcoming a taxing rehab process by the end of May, Tsatas averaged 25 disposals per game across seven-consecutive VFL games to finally earn a senior call-up for the round 21 clash with the Eagles.

For Tsatas, the most important takeaway from achieving his dream of an AFL debut was the confidence it instilled in him to overcome major hurdles.

“Getting through that injury setback has helped me a lot in building an armour for myself, as well as the confidence to become a resilient person,” Tsatas said.

“The ride to get to that debut was awesome and just being exposed to AFL level was what I wanted to do right from the start.”

Tsatas eased into his first appearance smoothly, finishing with 14 disposals as the Bombers held on for a nerve-wracking one-point win over West Coast.

The 18-year-old came inches away from an inspired debut goal in the final term, before a last-gasp effort from Kyle Langford locked away the victory.

While some young players can tend to shy away from important moments late in games, Tsatas’ debut only fuelled his desire to stay present in clutch situations.

“When ‘Lang’ (Langford) kicked that goal against West Coast to put us in front, I remember that massive roar so clearly. That was probably the first time I looked around and went ‘this is AFL footy’,” Tsatas said.

“I really want those clutch moments, which might not be something people realise about me straight away. They’re the best times in footy.

“Even when I kicked my first goal against North Melbourne, I really wanted to demand the footy and stand up in a big moment.”

Tsatas’ exciting start unfortunately coincided with a difficult run of form for the Bombers, who fell in big losses to GWS and Collingwood to end the season on a tough note.

The challenge of bouncing back hasn’t been lost on Tsatas, who won’t be wasting any time in looking to make amends.

“Those losses are a massive point of motivation for us. Having those two bad ones at the end just makes us want to get back to our peak physical fitness and we want everyone to feed off that,” Tsatas said.

“It was a sour note to end on and everyone’s really disappointed, but I feel that’s just going to inspire us even more to get back into it again.

“Getting that taste of senior footy has really lit a fire in my belly to have a massive off-season. I want to prove that I’m good enough to become a consistent player at this level.”

Now back to full health, a renewed focus on bulking up his physical frame will lead Tsatas’ off-season plans.

With room for improvement a key focus for the Bombers, Tsatas remains confident its core group of young players are ready to hit the ground running ahead of 2024.

“Getting fitter and getting bigger are the two main focuses for me. I really want to keep building on that base and put on a few more kilos,” Tsatas said.

“Our young core should excite our fans, and hopefully it will over the next 10 years. We’re all hungry and eager to get better, I think they can hold us in good stead for 2024 and beyond.”