Sam Walsh is becoming one of the best midfielders in the AFL. No longer is he a good "young" player, he's a genuine superstar of the game

2021 has been another boom year for the former No.1 AFL Draft pick, who has quickly become Carlton's best midfielder and arguably a top ten player in the league.

Despite a shaky start to his 2020 season, Walsh's numbers read as good as some of the game's best players. In recent times, the best two to compare him to would be superstars; Chris Judd and Joel Selwood.

Both Selwood and Judd had an opening fifty games that cemented themselves as top 10 players in the competition, and Walsh has earned that label himself, according to the numbers.

One thing Judd has over both of these two (Selwood and Walsh) is his ability to hit the scoreboard.

The West Coast Eagles dynamo averaged over a goal per game in his first half-ton, while Walsh averages just under a goal every two games and Selwood went at just 0.28 goals per game.

SAM WALSH
Midfielder
Carlton
2021 SEASON AVG
29.8
Disposals
4.5
Tackles
4.8
Clearances

But both Walsh and Selwood managed to top the two-time Brownlow medallist's uncontested numbers in their first 49 games, with Judd averaging 7.6 outside touches a game and Walsh and Selwood collecting 15.3 per game.

Walsh is a workhorse with a running ability far above his years. After just three AFL pre-seasons, the 20-year-old covers the ground like a man who has been in the system for a decade.

This work rate allows him to collect disposals at will and he averages 25.4 disposals per game to this point in his career (56 games), ahead of both Judd and Selwood.

A stat that may not be as flattering in comparison, is in the clearance column. Judd went at 4.2 per game while Walsh goes at just 3.6 each outing.

This number, however, is still quite impressive with Walsh spending a lot of his first 40 games away from centre bounces and out on a wing - a position where clearances aren't at a premium or even a prerequisite at all.

Walsh's debut season was immense, taking the AFL by storm in a team that struggled majorly for the first-half of the year.

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By the end of 2019, he had broken the record for the most disposals by a first-year player.

In their third-years, both Judd and Selwood made the All-Australian team for the first time, and Judd won the first of his two Brownlow Medals and five club best and fairest awards across the Eagles and Blues.

Walsh, at this point in time, is firmly on track for the 2021 All-Australian team, with a blazer looking more a matter of size then if he gets one at all.

Selwood won the AFL Rising Star award in his first season - the Cats' drought-breaking 2007 AFL Premiership year - but waited until his fourth year to win his first Geelong best and fairest award, of which he now has three.

The 2019 NAB Rising Star winner looks destined for his maiden John Nicholls Medal in 2021 in his third season at the Blues.

 

A Brownlow Medal also isn't out of the question this season. He has been superb in all of Carlton's seven wins and will poll votes in losing games as ell you'd assume. The 21-year-old leads the Zero Hanger MVP award and is every chance to take the lead in the AFLCA Award when votes come out on Monday.

His progression is linear and matching up with two of the all-time greats if not surpassing them.

Walsh took out last year's Rebel AFL Mark of the Year award with a courageous mark that showed he might just have the courage to match Selwood.

They say the best ability is availability, and the growth of Sam Walsh has been matched by durability, as he has played his first 50 games without interruption, and shows no signs of fatigue in his young body.

The next 50 games may very well be even more exciting than the first 50 if the Judd and Selwood comparisons hold-up.