AFL Draft 2025: Top prospect Josh Lindsay on his meticulous preparation, mentor Troy Selwood’s passing and more
Josh Lindsay has entered top five calculations, and his stocks have risen in the wake of his mentor Troy Selwood’s passing. An unusual purchase highlights why he is destined to make Selwood proud.
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Most draft prospects will stop at nothing to achieve their AFL dream, but saving up to buy $1400 recovery boots is next level.
That unusual purchase sums up ultra-dedicated Geelong Falcons talent Josh Lindsay, who has shot into top five calculations in the wake of Geelong Grammar mentor Troy Selwood’s tragic death in February – one of the “biggest things” he has had to overcome in his young life.
But the smooth-moving halfback and midfielder’s strong start comes as no surprise given the meticulous preparation he takes into not just every week, but every training drill.
Drawn-up plans and goals before each week, touch sessions before school, and saunas and ice baths at Belmont’s Ark Sports Recovery after school are all commonplace, and it was at Ark where he got the idea few teenagers have.
“I started using (recovery boots) a fair bit and I feel really good when using them. They cost me about $1400 so they weren’t cheap, but I was happy paying for them,” Lindsay told this masthead.
“They make blood flow through your legs and reduce the DOMs (delayed onset muscle soreness) after training and games and prepare to be the best possible that you can, so I really do feel the benefits of it.
“I like to say I’m pretty organised and set clear intentions on the week that I’m about to head into.
“It’s just staying consistent as I possibly can. Getting in the gym three, four times a week, making sure I train most nights and when I’m training, training with a real purpose and not going through the motions, but identifying what I can get out of each drill and how it’s going to make me better.
“We’ve got access to Ark Sports Recovery, I try to go in there as much as possible, use the ice bath and pools and also the sauna.
“And then my aunty, she’s a physio as well, so she gives me a little bit of treatment and always looking after me.
“I like to get up each morning and whether that’s 10-20 minutes just working on my touch with a rebound net or with my brother.”
The Newtown & Chilwell product is in the process of three weeks on the sidelines through community footy concussion protocols after a head knock suffered during a match with Geelong Grammar.
That minor setback pales in comparison to the loss of beloved Geelong Grammar football director Troy Selwood, who helped guide Lindsay through his football journey after he joined the school in Year 10.
Lindsay, 18, said the former Brisbane player’s advice has been crucial, and something he will always remember as he strives to make him Selwood proud.
“It was one of the biggest things I’ve had come up in life and never really faced anything like it,” Lindsay said.
“I was super close with him, I’d always reach out nearly every day, every week, always reaching out for feedback and he always had time for me.
“I learnt a lot off him ever since joining Grammar at Year 10 and I thought we’d built a really good relationship.
“For him to pass away that was a huge shock. It was pretty shocking, but learnt a lot off him.
“I just want to carry on his legacy as well and do him proud. So he was super for me and I wouldn’t be here without him, so I couldn’t thank him enough.”
His most important lesson centred on Lindsay’s preparation.
While his attention to detail is what sets him apart, it also had an impact on him in the past.
“I was pretty strict on my preparation when I first joined Grammar, I didn’t want much to go wrong,” Lindsay explained.
“He just eased me down a little bit and said, ‘If this thing doesn’t go right, you’re not going to play a bad game, or you’re not going to train bad’.
“So it’s sort of just not worrying too much and sort just relaxing down a bit at times when I need to.
“He definitely built a lot of confidence and he always believed in me. So to play with a lot of confidence is a key thing for me to perform.”
Lindsay has lived out that advice this season, oozing confidence with his laser-like left boot, perfected with hours upon hours of rigorous training.
His elite kicking was on full display in his best-on-ground display for the AFL Academy against Coburg last month, where he showed shades of his idol Errol Gulden.
It was his second medal win in the space of seven months after another classy performance on the MCG on AFL grand final day in the under-17 futures match.
“It was a good achievement. Obviously put in a lot of hard work over the pre-season and to back up the futures game is something I’m really proud of and it’s got me in a good spot at the moment to continue on building as the year goes on,” Lindsay said.
Along with Gulden, Lindsay is also a big fan of Collingwood champion Scott Pendlebury – he listened to The Howie Games’ Pendlebury: ‘Beyond 400’ religiously.
Clearly the dedicated draft hopeful has taken a leaf out of Pendles’ book.
“I love that (series). Dad’s actually good mates with ‘Howie’ (Mark Howard) who he did the podcast with, so I reckon I’ve listened to every episode about two to three times,” Lindsay said. “I learnt a lot off that and really enjoyed listening to it.”
CRICKET OR FOOTY?
Just like his former Geelong Grammar teammate and Richmond No.1 pick Sam Lalor, Lindsay also had to make the choice between footy and cricket.
Lindsay won two APS premierships alongside Lalor and produced an all-round masterclass against arch-rivals Geelong College last year, where he hit an unbeaten 50 off 45 deliveries and 4-38 with the ball.
In fact, swashbuckling batter Lalor and fast bowler Lindsay even struck a deal to help each other get through unscathed.
“We sort of had a thing going on. I couldn’t bowl him bouncers and if I didn’t bowl him bouncers, he wouldn’t try and whack me,” Lindsay chuckled.
Lindsay has hit a top speed of 125km/h and had the chance to train with Vic Country, but he knew he was always going to choose footy.
“I’ve always loved my cricket, played it ever since I can remember and I still love it to this day, but always had the passion for footy a little bit more,” Lindsay said.
“Cricket probably got me too much, we were playing a fair amount of games and got pretty sore on my body and just balancing between cricket and footy, I sort of had to make a choice in my under 16 year playing footy.
Got invited down to Vic Country to train for them during the pre-season and they had training on Sundays and I was playing footy on a Saturday.”
LOCKED IN AT KARDINIA PARK
Lindsay has the training standards and maturity that some footballers never reach across their entire career, which will no doubt make him even more appealing to AFL clubs
But that desire for extras ended up getting him and Falcons teammate Ben Rongdit, a member of the AFL Academy and Geelong’s Next Generation Academy, in a spot of bother.
Fulfilling their dreams training with the Geelong Cats for a week in the pre-season, the pair were soaking up the scene on their first day at Kardinia Park and time got away from them.
“Me and Benny were just loving it. I think about eight o’clock at night we were still kicking footies around in the rooms like little five year olds,” Lindsay recalled.
“But we went and got our bags to leave, Mum called me to come pick me up, and went to open the door and it was locked because the players all had this system to get into the rooms, and obviously me and Benny didn’t have one.
“We were stuck in there for a bit, we wondered if we were going to get out.”
Fortunately, academy and pathways manager Chris Lynch came to their rescue half an hour later.
“He came down at about 8:30pm and let us back out, and (we) rocked up at 7 o’clock the next morning,” Lindsay chuckled.
Lindsay loved the experience in the inner sanctum at the Cats and even had the surreal experience of lining up against captain Patrick Dangerfield during match simulation.
One of the highlights for Lindsay was joining unheralded Cat George Stevens for, you guessed it, some more extras.
“He was unreal for me,” Lindsay said.
“He sort of asked me to go on an off day, and we went and did some extra touch and some recovery and he sat down with me to do some vision on some midfield craft as well.”
That brief stint at Geelong was just a taste of AFL footy that has made Lindsay even hungrier to achieve a dream that is sure to become a reality in November.
“That was one of the best experiences of my life, just makes you want to play even more,” he said.
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