Port Adelaide key defender Esava Ratugolea has reflected on his gratitude for the people around him, ahead of his 100th AFL game this Sunday. 

The 26-year-old joined the Power ahead of the 2024 season, seeking more opportunity after 75 games with Geelong. 

Speaking with the Adelaide media on Thursday, Ratugolea touched on his family’s influence, being a role model to young kids, and how he’s learning and growing every week. 

Ratugolea on reaching his 100th AFL game 
“I haven't really given myself a chance (to reflect much) to be honest, but looking back, there are a lot of great memories. You know, a lot of relationships built and I've come a long way football wise, but as a person as well. So, you know, it's something that I'm super proud of. I came in as a real kid, not knowing what my future looked like at AFL level. To play one game was a great achievement, but to make 100 games is awesome, and I'm proud of that, and my family's proud of that too. So that's the most important thing as well. So yeah, it's a great achievement. And I'm looking forward to it.” 

Ratugolea on his family’s influence 
“My family have been on the phone to me all week, so they're super excited to get here this week and spend the weekend in Adelaide and come watch me play. So that'll be great to have them over for this weekend. But you know, I wouldn't be here without the work from them. What they did for me growing up, and what they do for me to this day. This is all to do with them, really.” 

Ratugolea on being a role model to kids 
“Yeah, I’d like to say so. I like to say that I inspire kids, but, you know, I sort of just go about my business and if I do inspire one kid now, then I'm doing my job. So hopefully there's kids out there that see me and they can believe in themselves and think that they can do it as well. I was probably that kid growing up, watching Nic Nat (Naitinui) playing, and seeing Aliir play, and seeing all these guys coming through the ranks. So hopefully I've inspired some along the way.” 

Ratugolea on his gratitude for the journey so far 
There's so many people along the way that's helped me with it. So there's a lot of people that have shot me messages, even last week, they got onto it early, and they were excited that I was playing my 100th this weekend. So yeah, there's a lot of people that have helped me along this journey. I'll get back to them, and I'll definitely thank those people, those coaches, those parents that helped me get to footy games and things like that. It's 100 games but to go it's a great milestone for me. So you know, I'll definitely thank them.” 

Ratugolea on sitting on the sidelines with injury 
“Yeah, I was obviously frustrated getting through a full pre-season and then having a little niggle in the knee. But, you know, I'd rather get the injury early in the year than through the middle of the season anyway, or the most important part of the season. I just had to chip away at my rehab and get to it. But you know, we've got such a good backline with a bunch of great leaders and great players within it. So the biggest struggle for me was seeing if I can fit into that side or not.” 

Ratugolea on his thoughts when he got injured 
“I hadn't hurt my knee since 2015 or something like that. So it was sort of an injury that I had never really been familiar with, especially with not having contact or being around anyone when I did it. So it sort of stressed me a little bit.” 

Ratugolea on Zak Butters 
“I feel like that bloke hurt his knee last week, and he's back to it. But even today, seeing him in the match play and stuff, and twisting and turning…I kind of did a similar one to him. And, you know, I'm still trying to build confidence back in my knee, but he saw just sort of moves on like nothing. But yeah, if anyone's going to come back the quickest or break records, it’s probably that bloke. So it's exciting for me seeing him out there, so I can't wait to have him in, because he's probably one of the most important players for us.” 

Ratugolea on Ollie Lord 
“Yeah Ollie would be great to have in, he’s obviously coming back from injury. So that'll be interesting to see. He got through today fine, got through the match sim fine. So, you know, it will be nice to have another tall in there. So if he can put his hand up, that'd be great.” 

Ratugolea on playing forward 
“Yeah, I'll find out at the same time you do. We'll see. I just have to be ready for anything, really. But yeah, at the moment, I'm playing as a defender.”  

Ratugolea preparing for St Kilda 
“It's obviously very important (for us to respond after a loss). And I backed the boys to have a comeback this week. We were obviously disappointed from last week, and we had our honest reviews this week, as we do, but we've trained well with. We're ready to move on, to be honest, and we can bounce back this weekend. So we're looking forward to the opportunity.” 

Ratugolea on making the decision to come to Port Adelaide 
“The biggest thing was to chase opportunity, really. And I feel like the club has given me that. I wanted to play AFL footy and, you know, last year they gave me the opportunity to do that, and Ken's put a lot of trust in me and a lot of faith in me as well. And I'm super appreciative of that. So, yeah, it's been great. But also, I don't want to forget about being at the Cats too, and the development and the time they put into me, you know, I'll forever be grateful for. Again, there's a lot of people along the journey that I still have to thank.” 

Ratugolea on growing his confidence 
“Every game, every weekend, every week, I'm learning, and I'm trying to get as much information in as I can, because, you know, I've still got so much work to do, especially this year, coming back from injury, missing a few practice games. So yeah, it was good to get that that game on the weekend over with. But yeah, hopefully, hopefully now I can provide a bit more.”