West Coast rising star Josh Lindsay says the emerging Eagles are starting to reap the rewards of persistence despite another victory slipping away late.<\/p>\n
The Eagles fell short of spoiling Scott Pendlebury\u2019s milestone match, losing to Collingwood by 10 points in front of a packed MCG on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Jobe Shanahan brought the Eagles back within three points deep in the fourth quarter before Dan McStay and Nick Daicos kicked the sealing majors.<\/p>\n
Collingwood hurried out to a 29-point lead early in the third quarter and threatened to blow West Coast out of the match.<\/p>\n
But the Eagles were stoic in response, delaying the Magpies\u2019 Pendlebury party.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it was such a good four-quarter performance by us,\u201d Lindsay said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re probably a bit stiff not to get the result there, but I think our footy is building every week. We\u2019re only getting better from here.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s just getting more games and experience. The more footy you play, you learn.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you can continue on playing footy, I\u2019ve played 10 games so far and I\u2019ve learned so much.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlaying footy together is how I think we\u2019re going to really build.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lindsay has already earned a Rising Star nomination and developed into one of the Eagles\u2019 best ball users across half back.<\/p>\n
The left-footer says instinct guides his deft kicking, but hours of hard work plays an important role.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think some of it comes natural but I work super hard on it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether that\u2019s before or after training, the more reps I can do the better I am going to get.<\/p>\n
\u201cI definitely say it\u2019s hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Only time will determine whether Lindsay pushes further up the ground, but for now he is content learning at half back alongside Liam Duggan and Liam Baker.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love my role across half back, the boys give me such good confidence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether down the track I do venture into the midfield, time will tell, but I am loving down back at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n