READY TO RISE TO THE CHALLENGE

SAM WALSH UNFAZED BY EXPECTATIONS

HOW do you get hold of Sam Walsh?

He’s set to be the No.1 draft pick tonight, so in keeping with the AFL world he’s about to be a part of, getting to him is certain to be a complicated process.

Do you go through the AFL? Geelong Falcons? Manager? School? Parents?

“Ring him direct,” Falcons talent manager Mick Turner says.

The former Geelong great has seen a lot of superstars go through his system over the past couple of decades, but he has Walsh at the top of the tree — which says a lot.

“He’s very receptive, he gets requests all the time but he’s a very, very good kid,” Turner says.

A text message is sent. Within an hour a reply is returned with a promise to ring the following day, which he does.

He has his final VCE exam on Monday, but can get the family together for a photo on Tuesday afternoon. Over the next couple of days there are even updates with his brother unavailable because of work experience and then his father can’t make the scheduled time because of work commitments.

Walsh couldn’t be more apologetic. If first impressions mean anything, the kid is a lock for No.1 — and that’s before we’ve even met.

Everything you’ve heard about him is flowing through already. Outstanding character. Born leader. Ultra professional. Mature beyond his years.

He doesn’t disappoint in person either, as he welcomes us into the family’s Ocean Grove home that he shares with his two younger brothers, Henry (who is 16 and already 203cm) and Tom, and parents Wayne and Jacque.

The NFL is on the TV and he’s been glued to it for three hours as one of the games of the season between the LA Rams and Kansas City Chiefs has unfolded.

“I love my American sports,” he says.

He’s a New York Giants fan n and in the NBA it’s the New York Knicks but he hasn’t been to the Big Apple yet. That’s at the top of his wish list. Well, it’s second just behind becoming an AFL footballer tonight.

Whether that is with Carlton or the Gold Coast, he’s not sure yet.

The Blues came for a visit a couple of months ago at the end of the TAC Cup season and interviewed him again at the AFL Combine but he hasn’t heard anything since.

While the world might be against the Gold Coast, Walsh doesn’t mind heading north.

Walsh has been touted as No.1 for most of the year and did nothing during the season to impact that rating. He won the Falcons’ best-and-fairest (despite playing only 12 of 18 games), was Vic Country’s most valuable player at the national championships and won the Larke Medal as most outstanding player in the Division 1 carnival.

At 184cm, he’s a perfect midfield size who can play inside and out with his endur-