Windsor and this bloke off half back will pay big dividends after they have played 50 games together.

48 minutes ago, Jjrogan said:

Lappin!!!  So far ive read him also conpared to Reid, Walsh, Kelly, a Febey, Xavier Tanner, Billings, a Tears for Fears guitarist and more. What the heck ill join in, he reminds me of Fraser Gehrig. All aboard the X-train!!

My observations upon seeing his under 18 highlights was a Craig McRae type

So Lindsay is really neat footballer who doesn't waste a possession

Also had Langford as a Luke Hodge type so fingers crossed that he ends up being that good

As it turned out, Lindsay is the plug-in-and-play type where as Langford might take a bit of time (I had it the other way around!)

Edited March 18, 2025Mar 18 by Macca

I was wrong, happy to say it this early. I thought he was slight but he looks the goods. 

There is a passing resemblance to Kade Simpson, except Xavier Lindsey has started his career with the same number of disposals as Simpson got total from his first 8 games.

Greatness isn't always instant, but maybe in this case excellence is.

Pretty good mix of contested efforts and tackles, as well, for a guy who weighs less than I did before Covid blimped me.

16 minutes ago, GS_1905 said:

Windsor and this bloke off half back will pay big dividends after they have played 50 games together.

This to me is one of the most important issues both for this year and coming years.

Watching the years of Richmond, Brisbane and Hawthorn winning multiple premierships, one of the reasons why was the team played together over some years.

We have blooded 6 new-ish players into our team for their first game. To me they way they performed within the team, having played no real games together was one of the highlights of the game. They gelled well with players that had played many years together. The future, if we can keep them together, bodes well for future of our Club.

40 minutes ago, Dingo said:

I think we need to keep  a big lid on this!

Extra Large?

That bit of play at 1:42 against Callan Ward was sensational.

Great first up game and looks a real player. Looks like he belongs.  

Our first round pick the year is with Essendon and if we have a bad year it could end up being a high pick. Always a worry. However as we took Lindsay with their pick I think we come out winners regardless. Go Dees! 

Edited March 18, 2025Mar 18 by Pulp Fritschon

1 hour ago, Demon Jack said:

That bit of play at 1:42 against Callan Ward was sensational.

@ .40secs for me.

Two beautifully weighted / timed handballs under serious pressure! That passage of play was played as though the young man had already played 200 games. He had to be centimetre perfect on both occasions - & he was!

Vision / skill / IQ 🧠🤓🔥

Great to have another elite ball user in the backline.  Has alot of Bowey of 2021 about him in that respect, always looks like he's got time, space and awareness.

...don't get me started about Caleb, he's in a league all of his own 😍

Edited March 18, 2025Mar 18 by Rodney (Balls) Grinter

Anyone got the footage of him in the "backline" I keep hearing about

37 minutes ago, adonski said:

Anyone got the footage of him in the "backline" I keep hearing about

He played on the wing and at half back...

Fantastic clip - looks balanced and calm. Moves with serenity.  A massive selection. 

55 minutes ago, Adam The God said:

He played on the wing and at half back...

Indeed. 

Manned up Toby Greene for a while in the first quarter- welcome to AFL football!

15 minutes ago, binman said:

Indeed. 

Manned up Toby Greene for a while in the first quarter- welcome to AFL football!

Yeah well spotted Binman. definitely saw him going to Greene in the wide areas. 

8 hours ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

Great to have another elite ball user in the backline.  Has alot of Bowey of 2021 about him in that respect, always looks like he's got time, space and awareness.

...don't get me started about Caleb, he's in a league all of his own 😍

You know what I really like about Caleb? He's not afraid to take that extra step, especially when carrying it through the middle. It's ones of those facets that would take our gameplan out of the safe and more into the daring stratosphere. I'd like to see more of that from all our mids, even if they get caught once and a while. 

I was sold on him very early in the game after he'd put on 2 very clever shepherds to clear a path for a teammate. How many others do we have with those smarts?

The rest of his game was a bonus, an enormous bonus.

17 minutes ago, layzie said:

You know what I really like about Caleb? He's not afraid to take that extra step, especially when carrying it through the middle. It's ones of those facets that would take our gameplan out of the safe and more into the daring stratosphere. I'd like to see more of that from all our mids, even if they get caught once in a while. 

Agree, but Caleb has speed and the ability to accelerate. Not everyone can change pace like that. 

We’re in the Shane Warne stand, so didn’t get to see X’s work up close, but could tell he’s pretty special. Looking at that footage, two things stood out to me:

1. He seems to be one of those players who  creates time and space for himself, even in congestion (Judd McVee is another). Very unfazed and calm in possession.

2. As @binman noted on the pod, he handballs into space beautifully, so that the receiving player doesn’t need to break stride. Also, didn’t appreciate at the game how good his kicking is - mostly hitting the receiver on the chest, in space away from the defender.

Tough as well - could be an incredible pick up.

1 hour ago, 3183 Dee said:

We’re in the Shane Warne stand, so didn’t get to see X’s work up close, but could tell he’s pretty special. Looking at that footage, two things stood out to me:

1. He seems to be one of those players who  creates time and space for himself, even in congestion (Judd McVee is another). Very unfazed and calm in possession.

2. As @binman noted on the pod, he handballs into space beautifully, so that the receiving player doesn’t need to break stride. Also, didn’t appreciate at the game how good his kicking is - mostly hitting the receiver on the chest, in space away from the defender.

Tough as well - could be an incredible pick up.

My favourite pass of his was the beautiful kick to Max on the lead. Perfectly weighted. Not many of our players can hit that regularly.

Good start and has a skill set that would make him an excellent AFL contributor from the beginning. At a minimum he's a good long term player because of his combination of mobility, smarts and skills. The question is how far can he develop his game. If he can develop his ground ball and contested football game then he could become a really nice, balanced midfielder who can complement some of the bigger bulls. If he can't then he'll always have a role as a neat, team oriented wingman or ball using half back and club leader.

He's a very low risk pick. We've already seen how high his floor is. I'll be intrigued to find out where his ceiling is.  

15 minutes ago, Adam The God said:

Not many of our players can hit that regularly.

*sigh* 

Sadly, entirely true. 

There was also a moment in the second quarter where he 'fumbled' the ball over the line for a rushed behind. Without the pretend fumble we would have been in trouble. And another instance later where Ward dropped a mark, Lindsay waited for him to drag it under then then pounced and held it in to him, drawing a HTB free. 

Little moments, but when a player has 5-6 of those in a debut game, it's extremely impressive. 

This guy is the total package, physical attributes, skill and decision making.

 

27 minutes ago, Bang Bang Bang said:

There was also a moment in the second quarter where he 'fumbled' the ball over the line for a rushed behind. Without the pretend fumble we would have been in trouble. And another instance later where Ward dropped a mark, Lindsay waited for him to drag it under then then pounced and held it in to him, drawing a HTB free. 

Little moments, but when a player has 5-6 of those in a debut game, it's extremely impressive. 

It shows that he is thinking through what to do next. It shows he is a quick decision making and observer of the game. Very valuable. Players who don't have that skill are light grunts in the army - you can teach them some version of skill and smarts through pure repetition, but their ceiling is very limited. XL is clearly not a grunt.