Esava Ratugolea (born 24 July 1998) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Ratugolea was initially drafted by Geelong with their third pick and forty-third overall in the 2016 national draft.[1] Ratugolea made his debut in Geelong's 3-point win against Melbourne in round 1, 2018 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.[2]

Esava Ratugolea
Ratugolea playing for Geelong in April 2019
Personal information
Full name Esava Ratugolea
Date of birth (1998-07-24) 24 July 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth Griffith, New South Wales
Original team(s) Cobram Football Club, Murray Bushrangers (TAC Cup)
Draft No. 43, 2016 national draft
Debut Round 1, 2018, Geelong vs. Melbourne, at MCG
Height 197 cm (6 ft 6 in)
Weight 102 kg (225 lb)
Position(s) Key Defender
Club information
Current club Port Adelaide
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2018–2023 Geelong 75 (38)
2024– Port Adelaide 23 (4)
Total 98 (42)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2024.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Ratugolea was born in Griffith, New South Wales. His parents are Fijian, and arrived in Australia a few years before his birth. At the age of six, Ratugolea moved to Cobram, Victoria. He only began playing football in 2011, after previously playing rugby and soccer.[3][4]

At the end of the 2023 AFL season, he was traded to Port Adelaide.[5]

Statistics

edit
 
Ratugolea playing for Geelong in 2023

Updated to the end of the 2022 season.[6]

Legend
  G  
Goals
  K  
Kicks
  D  
Disposals 
  T  
Tackles
  B  
Behinds 
  H  
Handballs 
  M  
Marks
H/O
Hit-outs
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T H/O G B K H D M T H/O
2018 Geelong 17 8 7 7 37 32 69 26 15 62 0.9 0.9 4.6 4.0 8.6 3.3 1.9 7.8
2019 Geelong 17 20 15 15 103 72 175 53 46 126 0.8 0.8 5.2 3.6 8.8 2.7 2.3 6.3
2020[a] Geelong 17 12 5 5 60 44 104 32 30 73 0.4 0.4 5.0 3.7 8.7 2.7 2.5 6.1
2021 Geelong 17 15 11 5 63 52 115 32 30 93 0.7 0.3 4.2 3.5 7.7 2.1 2.0 6.2
2022 Geelong 17 4 0 0 17 9 26 9 8 13 0.0 0.0 4.3 2.3 6.5 2.3 2.0 3.3
Career 59 38 32 280 209 489 152 129 367 0.6 0.5 4.7 3.5 8.3 2.6 2.2 6.2

Notes

  1. ^ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Honours and achievements

edit

Team

Individual

References

edit
  1. ^ Nicholson, Larissa (3 December 2016). "The Geelong draftee Esava Ratugolea's love of football started with a packet of chips". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  2. ^ "Demons are Gawn as late miss lets Cats hold on". ABC Sport. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 25 March 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  3. ^ "Counting the cost - Shepparton News". 18 August 2017. Archived from the original on 25 March 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  4. ^ "Ratugolea's rapid rise - TAC Cup". 7 July 2016.
  5. ^ @AFL_House (18 October 2023). "Trade paperwork lodged" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. ^ "Esava Ratugolea". AFL Tables. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
edit