WEST Coast draftee Josh Lindsay has replaced the family garage in Geelong with the Eagles' 'shed' in Perth as he sharpens his brilliant kicking skills in a debut season that is building. 

A skilful left-footer who is already being trusted with kick-in duties five games into his career, Lindsay grew up with a morning routine of kicking footballs into a rebound net in his home garage in regional Victoria.

While the 19-year-old hasn't replicated that set-up in the house he shares now with fellow first-round draft pick Cooper Duff-Tytler, he is turning the Eagles' indoor training area, known internally as 'the shed', into his new kicking lab. 

An ultra professional who is a regular at the Eagles' training base on his days off, Lindsay's hard work is paying dividends after another impressive performance against Fremantle, with effective kicking at the centre of his game. 

"That's my strength and I want to continue getting better at that, so we've got the shed downstairs and a lot of us young boys are in that indoor area for probably 30-45 minutes before every training getting heaps of touch in," Lindsay told AFL.com.au. 

"I've been working closely with [development coach] Shannon Hurn, who's obviously a great player at this club and one of the best kicks going, so I work super close with him as well.

"Whether it's after training or in the afternoons, I'll head to the shed and get in as many extra kicks as possible, and he's always got some great points for me.

"He believes in my kicking, so it's about getting the reps in and working on all different types and range with my kicks as well."

No player has kicked the football more times in West Coast history than Hurn, who racked up a massive 4569 kicks in his 333 games, but Lindsay has quickly emerged as the club's new super-boot in defence. 

He ranks No.2 at the club for effective kicks (10.4 a game), behind backline sidekick Tom McCarthy, and has used the ball at 80.4 per cent efficiency through five games. 

The Geelong Falcons product arrived with a reputation as the best kick in the draft and spoke with backline coach Mitch Duncan and coach Andrew McQualter through the pre-season about taking on kick-in duties. 

It's a job he has shared with McCarthy since the mid-season draftee returned to the backline, growing more comfortable in the role each week. 

"It gives me confidence that the coaches and the players believe in me and I can just play to my strengths," Lindsay said.  

"It's a good honour to have and I look forward to the challenge with it as well. 

"Each game, Mitch Duncan says who's going to take the kick-ins, and a lot of the time it is me.

"I'm still finding that balance between when to bite off that difficult kick or when to just find an easy outlet, so that's something I'm continuing to work on each game."

Lindsay has packed a lot into the first six rounds of the season, making his debut against Gold Coast in round one, dealing with the disappointment of being dropped the following week, and then fighting his way back into the team to enjoy his first win against Port Adelaide. 

Somewhat overshadowed early on by Telstra AFL Rising Star nominees Willem Duursma and Jobe Shanahan and exciting tall Duff-Tytler, he was in the spotlight himself last Sunday after snapping his first AFL goal against the Dockers. 

"That was quite a surreal moment. Being a backman, you don't get close to the goals too often, so to kick my first goal was such a good feeling," Lindsay said. 

"The Eagles fans are such great fans and they got around me, and all the boys jumped around so it was unreal. It was a good moment." 

While ball use is his strength, Lindsay is putting work into the defensive side of his game as well after tough match-ups on elite half-forwards like Geelong's Gryan Miers and Fremantle's Shai Bolton. 

Bolton delivered one important lesson last Sunday when he got a brief moment of separation on Lindsay for a forward 50 contest and made him pay. 

"You can't really give them too much space or lapse, you've got to concentrate all the time, so that's been a good learning so far," Lindsay said. 

"There was one on the weekend where I had a good position on Bolton, but I gave him not even half a metre and he crumbed the ball and snapped a goal, so you can't even give him half a second. 

"But I think each week I'm building a lot more confidence that I do belong at this level and my teammates have been good for that as well."

Lindsay is excited to return to Victoria for the first time this week to play in front of family and friends when the Eagles take on St Kilda at Marvel Stadium on Sunday. 

It will be his first trip home since the Christmas break, with life off-field in Perth going well for the composed and coachable youngster as he settles into the routines of professional football alongside good friend Duff-Tylter. 

"I'd say we're both quite professional and we love getting the best out of each other," Lindsay said. 

"We both enjoy our cooking, so he's been doing the steaks and I've been doing the chicken and we sort of share each night, so that's something we're both interested in. 

"I've always dreamt of playing AFL and to land at such a great club in the Eagles, it's been unreal, and it's been good as with Cooper.

"From pre-Christmas training to now, I've felt like I'm getting better each week and each session, so I'm loving it."