SAM L WALSH & THE SUPER DRAFT
From Cobden to Carlton ...
THROUGHOUT a career of underage football, Sam Walsh hasn’t always been top billing.
The Geelong Falcons captain has long been touted as the likely No.1 pick in Thursday’s AFL draft, but the boy from Cobden has always had an acute awareness of his time to shine.
When Carlton — or less likely the Gold Coast — reads out his name next week, a lifelong dream will be fulfilled and few will be as prepared for a step up to senior football as Walsh.
A midfielder throughout his junior career, there have been countless times when teammates bigger or older or more experienced have started on the ball, forcing him onto a wing or a flank.
But Walsh said that’s been one of the keys to his development.
“Early on in my junior footy, I always played a fair bit of midfield, but I like to think I’ve tried to be pretty versatile,” he said.
“Obviously when I’ve been playing bottom-ages, that’s where you’re usually on the outside — on a wing or on the flanks — and when you’re topage, it’s a gradual movement on-ball.
“That’s how it’s worked for me, and especially at the Falcons this year, to play different positions I think has developed my game and hopefully prepared me well for what’s to come.”
Last year’s TAC Cup premiership team has already produced five draftees — Matthew Ling, Tom McCartin, James Worpel, Gryan Miers and Josh Jaska — and could produce another five next Thursday.
Such was the depth at the Falcons last year that even Walsh knew he’d have to bide his time before rising to the fore in 2018.
“Playing with ‘Worps’ and a few of those boys, you do learn a lot,” he said.
“They definitely do help you out in that contested ball style is something I’ve taken a bit off them. We’ve been challenged this year, at times, not having those bigger boys, and ‘Worps’ is such a good leader, so you learn a lot off those blokes.
“That’s why last year was so great; we had such a balanced team that all worked together.”
Falcons coach Dan O’Keefe, a former Falcons captain himself and first-round draft pick, said he has never seen anyone like Walsh at TAC Cup level before.
“His worst game this year was 26 disposals — that is scary,” O’Keefe said.
“Brayden Ham is to be considered stiff to not win our best and fairest, he would have any other year. Sam only played 12 games, polled in every one and beat Brayden in the last round.”
Walsh will join Luke Hodge and Patty McCartin as former Falcons to go at pick one if Carlton selects him on Thursday and O’Keefe said he might be the safest selection in recent memory.
“He is the complete package and he rarely plays a bad game, in fact in two years he hasn’t,” he said.
“I helped coach Paddy McCartin at under-16 level and he was exceptional and a worthy No.1 pick for his year level.
“Sam is obviously a completely different player to Paddy.
“I haven’t seen anyone better at TAC level than Walshy, even from other teams.
“Opposition coaches have told me they had to give up playing someone on him. In fact like Ablett Jnr’s glory days, opposition sides just let him go as he is deemed unstoppable.”
From the outside, it looks as though Walsh has produced the perfect season — winner of the Larke Medal as most outstanding player in the Division 1 carnival, Vic Country’s most valuable player and Geelong Falcons’ best-and-fairest.
But in Walsh’s eyes, team performance is just as important, and the Falcons’ early finals exit was clearly one of the challenges.
“There’s always ups and downs throughout the year and especially in the few teams I played in this year, we didn’t get too many wins and that’s what you play footy for,” Walsh said.
“You do learn a lot from your losses though, so there are always positives to take out of it.
“It’s been a pretty tough year but I thought I played pretty consistently throughout and learnt a lot, which is good.”
But while school exams are keeping his mind busy this week, Thursday’s draft will make a “childhood dream” come true for Walsh.
“It all sort of struck me really when I was down in Cobden and Dad was coaching Cobden and to see Gary Rohan and Ben Cunnington come through, that’s when it all starts to get real for you,” he recalled.
“That’s where the dream sort of sparked, but for as long as I can remember it’s been a dream to play AFL.
“I probably would have been eight or nine I reckon.”
If Carlton is the club to read out his name at pick one, then Walsh will either live with a teammate or with a host family to immerse himself in city life.
While making an AFL debut would be the next bucket list item, again ‘team’ comes first for Walsh.
“I think after hopefully being drafted, it would be the goal to earn the respect of the group first of all and go in trying to work really hard,” he said.
“Then from there, the goal would definitely be to try and play Round 1.
“That's obviously a longterm goal and there’s still a lot of things to be done before then, but that’s one of the goals in mind I’d like to set.”
“I think after hopefully being drafted, it would be the goal to earn the respect of the group first of all and go in trying to work really hard.” GEELONG FALCON SAM WALSH