Bradley impressed with how Walsh has hit the ground running
CRAIG Bradley played 98 SANFL games before he arrived at Carlton to become the AFL’S great running man.
Sam Walsh has turned into the 2019 version with a single pre-season and a remarkable genetic gift.
In the first five weeks of the AFL season Walsh has emerged as the second-hardest runner in the AFL.
Only Lachie Whitfield has logged more kilometres than Walsh, who is also the first person to boast 24 possessions or more in his first five AFL games.
GWS star Whitfield, set to turn 25 this year and with 119 games under his belt, has logged 79.4km in his five games – 16km, 16.5km, 16.9km, 15.1km and 14.9km.
Walsh is a picture of consistency in his five games – 15.3km (Round 1), 16.1km, 16.2km, 15km and 15.9km.
Plenty of players run around like a headless chook and rack up big numbers.
But want to know why Walsh bobbed up like a pop-up sprinkler in space to kick the goal that broke a 60-match 100-point hoodoo?
Old-fashioned hard work combined with an innate sense of where to run.
Bradley was at Marvel Stadium on Sunday with good mate Peter Motley, whose VFL career was cut short by a serious car accident after 19 games at Carlton.
He was blown away by Walsh’s maturity for a player still yet to turn 19.
“He looks fantastic, doesn’t he. Very impressive straight out of the blocks and he’s taken to it pretty well. He is going to be a ripper,” he said.
“I had 98 (SANFL) games before I came over and didn’t come to Carlton until I was 22. Peter Motley was over so we went and had a look. His running capacity was just brilliant.
“You always look at the young guys to see how they are going to come on and he works hard and clearly has a good footy brain and a sense of where to run.
“It’s not just running for the sake of it. He has got an instinct of when to go and where to go and it’s as important as the running itself.”