Windhager was a promising basketballer as a junior, and at 15, represented Australia in the 2018 FIBA Under-15 Oceania Basketball Championships, averaging 9.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists across the tournament collecting a gold medal in their final against New Zealand.[1]
As a junior footballer, Windhager was the SMJFL 2019 Under 16's Division one Best & Fairest winner and second in the goalkicking table with 23 majors from 10 games playing for Beaumaris, including a bag of 11 against Bentleigh.[2]
Windhager was a member of St Kilda's Next Generation Academy, a pathway for indigenous and multicultural footballers who are typically under-represented and clubs incentivised with draft concessions.[3] He was also an AMC Next Generation Academy Indigenous Scholarship holder.[4]
Windhager was selected for Vic Metro in the 2021 Under 19 National Carnival and played an impressive 25-disposal game in a trail match against Vic Country. He then kickied a goal and had 12 disposals and three inside-50s in the U19 Championships game at Windy Hill in July. Windhager was tipped to be a top 30 pick at the 2021 draft, but suffered a back injury late in the year.[5] Windhager also played for the Sandringham Dragons.
AFL career
At the 2021 AFL draft, St Kilda matched a bid by Geelong with draft points for Windhager, and ultimately took him with pick 47 overall.[6] Windhager made his AFL debut in 2022 in Round 4 against Hawthorn. In Round 8 Windhager kicked his first ever AFL goal in their loss to Melbourne at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. In the later half of 2022, Windhager was used as a tagger on players such as Tim Kelly and Cameron Guthrie, and in round 22 received a Rising Star nomination for keeping Brisbane player and Brownlow medallist Lachie Neale to 16 disposals, while collecting 21 touches himself.[7]
