‘Perfect’ Walsh in easy win

DESCRIBED as a “perfect human” by captain Patrick Cripps, Carlton young gun Sam Walsh capped a near-perfect season with a near-perfect score to win the 2019 NAB AFL Rising Star award.

Becoming the first Blues player to win the award in its 27-year history, Walsh polled 54 of a possible 55 votes from the 11 judges to beat Port Adelaide’s Connor Rozee (42 votes) and Richmond’s Sydney Stack (28 votes) in a far from surprising result.

The No.1 draft pick last year, Walsh played all 22 games for Carlton — one of just three Blues to do so.

The 19-year-old broke the disposal record for a first-year player since Champion Data began recording statistics in 1999, logging 554 disposals in his 22 games at an average of 25.2. That record had previously been held by Toby Greene, who recorded 539 disposals on debut in 2012.

Walsh also ranked elite among midfielders in the competition for contested possessions (9.6 a game), clearances (3.2 a game) and pressure acts (21.8 a game).

The Rising Star award came a day after Walsh won the Best First Year Player award at the AFL Players’ Association awards.

“It’s a bit surreal, really,” Walsh said of the accolades.

“There are so many moments this year that I will look back on and I do look back on and just think, ‘ Did that really happen?’ This is probably one of those moments that I dreamt of but never really thought would happen. “It’s a bit of a crazy time.” Cripps said while Walsh came across as the “perfect human” off the field, his fierce competitiveness on the field meant he was prone to snapping. “You get him on the footy field and he’s got a short trigger,” Cripps said.

“He can snap pretty quickly. There’s a few times the boys wind him up when he’s getting really competitive and then you stir him up in the locker rooms after. But he had a sensational year.”

Former Western Bulldogs ruckman Luke Darcy was the only judge to award Rozee top votes.

The Port Adelaide forward also played every game this year, averaging 15.3 disposals and topping the Power’s goalkicking table with 29 majors.

Stack played only 17 games for the Tigers but made an immediate impact in his debut season, averaging 17.2 disposals and 4.3 score involvements.