It is easy to see the marking and the reading of the ball in the air. There is a reason the Bombers call him 'Buckets' – he has perhaps the surest hands at Essendon.
But there is more to Carlisle, one of the game's most promising young defenders. He's clever, he works over his opponents, and he's got a bit of fire in him. And there's another thing his wiry frame might hide.
"I watched him first-hand on Saturday night," says former St Kilda and Collingwood full-back Shane Wakelin.
"And probably what impressed me is he's physically developed a lot more than I thought, having only watched him on TV before that."
That will need to be the case at Thursday's Anzac Day clash, with Carlisle expected to take on in-form Collingwood strongman Travis Cloke. It looms as an intriguing – and important – battle.
Cloke, like Collingwood, has had the edge over Essendon in recent times.
In their past seven meetings, all of which the Magpies have won, Cloke has kicked 27 goals at an average of almost four a game. Essendon has struggled for a solution to stop him.
Carlisle offers one option, particularly given his consistent start to the year.
In round one he beat Adelaide's Taylor Walker, he did the same to Melbourne's Mitch Clark in round two, and comprehensively outpointed Fremantle captain Matthew Pavlich in round three in a best-on-ground showing.
Last week he was again solid, holding Saints captain Nick Riewoldt to three goals and doing it in a way where he could play to his strengths.
"What impressed me is his ability to be physical on the repeat leads around the back, where Riewoldt would lead up and then try to lead back inside 50. Carlisle was very good at pushing him up away from goal. He really impressed me with his closing speed," said Wakelin, who retired in 2008 after a 252-game career.
The praise for the 21-year-old has been flowing early this season. His captain Jobe Watson this week said he doesn't get overawed by opponents, or too flustered by the reputations of those he takes on.
His teammate, and sometime training combatant, Scott Gumbleton, also praised Carlisle's effectiveness as a defender.
"He's very good," Gumbleton said on SEN. "His body work and footwork in marking contests is unbelievable and he's very hard to beat one-on-one."
Cloke is a new challenge.
Against Richmond last week the 26-year-old physically imposed himself on the game, and showed he is perhaps the competition's best contested mark.
Statistics from Champion Data show Cloke has been involved in 32 one-on-one marking contests, the most of any forward. It shows the Magpies and coach Nathan Buckley are isolating Cloke more.
He has also been involved in 36 per cent of scoring chains, ranked second to only Watson in the competition.
Wakelin sees the major issue for Carlisle as the Essendon midfield, and whether it can hold its own against Collingwood. If it "leaks", he thinks Carlisle will play on the back of Cloke's shoulder, and try to push him up the ground as much as possible.
If the Bombers continue their midfield dominance, Carlisle could set up in a more attacking position, possibly playing in front and being more proactive.
At about 191cm and 92kg, Wakelin wasn't the biggest or strongest full-back of his era. But he found ways around that to stop opponents who had him covered physically.
One was Barry Hall. Having been teammates at St Kilda in the 1990s, Wakelin regularly took on Hall as a Sydney Swan after Wakelin had moved to the Magpies.
His success, he says, was largely because he knew how the Swans wanted to play under Paul Roos.
"And that was very much a policy of continuing to hit the lead-up target," Wakelin said.
"I knew physically not too many could have matched Barry in a one-on-one high ball, so that 70 or so metres away from the ball I'd play him five-10 metres in front and get the Sydney midfielders to kick a high ball over the top.
"And a high kick from that far will hang in the air and give a chance for the half-backs and ruckman to come over and float across."
Wakelin expects Carlisle to enter with just as clear a plan.
"He looks to me like a pretty smart player who understands his opponents well," Wakelin said.
| TRAVIS CLOKE 26 years-old | JAKE CARLISLE 21 years-old | ||
| Height/weight | 196cm/108kg | Height/weight | 200cm/98kg |
| Games played | 178 | Games played | 32 |
| Goals kicked in 2013 | 16 (equal first in AFL) | Spoils in 2013 | 24 (first at Essendon) |
| Contested marks | 13 first in AFL | Intercept marks | 9 (2nd at Essendon) |
Follow AFL website reporter Callum Twomey on Twitter at @AFL_CalTwomey.
