Blues brothers in midfield arms
It’s the competitive footy friendship that is driving two young Carlton midfield stars onto what they hope will be longawaited success and, in the process, partly alleviate the long-time reliance the Blues have had on their grand warrior Patrick Cripps.
Adam Cerra and Sam Walsh might have been drafted a year apart and initially to different sides of the country, but they have come together at IKON Park as almost inseparable midfield mates who are pushing themselves – and their teammates – to the limit.
It’s an emerging connection entering its third season – since Cerra found a new home at the Blues after four impressive years at Fremantle – and it is already starting to pay sizeable dividends.
Off the field, they live close to each other, they share rides to training, often catch up for coffee, and holidayed late last year in Japan with teammate Brodie Kemp and new Saint Paddy Dow.
On the ground, they’ve formed a strong bond in an evolving Blues’ midfield that is no longer “Cripps or bust”.
“We are very close,” Cerra, 24, said of his friendship with Walsh.
“We have grown closer over the last couple of years. It definitely helps, the more we train together and the more we spend time together, the closer you get.
“It gives you more trust and a greater predictability on game day, which has to help.”
Cerra was leading the Carlton bestand-fairest at the back end of last season, having excelled when the Blues were struggling at stages of 2023, before a hamstring injury in round 20 sidelined him leading into the finals series.
“It happened in the Collingwood game just after halftime,” he recalled.
“Obviously, it was my second or third hamstring in two years, so it was quite frustrating.
“But we have a really strong medical team and really supportive staff. (When it happened), you just want to flip the page and get started in rehab to get back as soon as possible.”
Walsh was battling injury at the same time so the pair were in the rehabilitation group as the club was trying to lock away a first September berth in a decade.
“We were both rehabbing pretty much the same injury and doing the same thing every day,” Cerra said.
“Walshy is the ultimate professional and is 100 per cent dedicated and driven to be the best he can be. He dragged me along a bit in rehab. I saw how hard he worked. I wasn’t surprised he performed so well in the finals.”
Walsh was the star of the Blues’ finals campaign, winning the Gary Ayres Medal as the AFL’S best player in September.
Cerra, too, came back from his injury to play a role in Carlton’s finals run.
“As professional athletes, I think you are hardwired to be competitive, not only with others, but with yourself,” Cerra said. “I have seen it (with Walsh) whether it is playing FIFA or table tennis, he just hates losing and I am the same.
“I don’t like losing in anything and I guess that has helped both of us get to where we are.”