Slashing debut by new Demon Lindsay

IF THEY didn’t know who Xavier Lindsay was last week, the 200,000 people who play AFL Supercoach will all be scrambling to add the Inverloch dynamo to their teams this week after he collected 22 possessions and 86 Supercoach points on debut.

The 350,000 Melbourne supporters who were introduced to the former Inverloch-Kongwak, Leongatha and Gippsland Power talent on draft night Wednesday, November 20 last year, when Lindsay was taken at pick 11 now know they have a keeper.

Here’s what the Demon supporters said about Xavier Lindsay after his impressive debut:

“Clean, classy and composed; Xavier Lindsay looked right at home at the top level. 22 disposals at 82 per cent efficiency, plus six tackles. We’ve got an absolute beauty here.”

And Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin was just as pleased with what he saw from both the number six pick Harvey Langford and the number 11 pick, Xavier Lindsay.

“When you have two pretty high draft picks in Langford and Lindsay, you know they’re natural footballers. They can play the game. They’re talented, but they’ve been able to, through the preseason, establish a foundation of work that gives them the opportunity to play and we’ve got no limitations on our young players if they’re ready to play, we’ll play them, and they fit the team really well.”

So, while Melbourne went down to Greater Western Sydney, by three points in gut-wrenching circumstances late in the game, the efforts of the club’s five debutants on the night gave Goodwin plenty to smile about.

“Yeah, there was a hell of a lot to like in the game. And clearly, we played five debutantes, and they all performed to a really high level. It gives you great confidence as a footy club, and it starts to build belief. And I’ll say this a lot to the players, that you always win in some manner, and we won in a lot of manners today, and we’ll certainly live in that space.”

Travelling down for the game were Xavier’s parents Mark and Kate and the whole Lindsay family with plenty of local supporters as well.

“It would have been great to win but we thought he played really well. We’re very proud of his efforts of course. We had a fabulous day. It’s been quite a ride,” said Kate Lindsay this week of the whirlwind journey from being drafted in November to playing in the first round on Saturday night.

Big weekend in football

It was a huge weekend in football for local sporting fans with former Inverloch-Kongwak and Gippsland Power player Archer Reid making his debut for West Coast Eagles.

In the context of a dominating performance by the Gold Coast Suns, Reid showed plenty of promising signs, collecting six possessions and playing time in the ruck, winning six hitouts.

At one stage, his strong contest at a throw-in produced an opportunity for his namesake Harley Reid who kicked a classy goal on the run when there were few highlights for the Eagles.

Archer’s family including father Craig and mother Meagan, made the trip west for the game.

Wonthaggi’s Jack Hutchinson was one of the Eagles battling out against a winning Suns on-ball unit and gathered 12 disposals in a serviceable display but finished the match on the bench with hamstring awareness.

The weekend also featured a close game between Brisbane and Sydney at the MCG with Tom Hanily continuing his progress as a small forward, picking up 12 possessions including seven kicks, five handballs and a breakthrough goal in his second game for the Swans.

The other highlight of the weekend for local sports fans was the 500th senior umpiring game for former Leongatha Secondary College student Matt Stevic, now regarded as the game’s greatest-ever AFL umpire with a record 12 grand finals to his credit.