Carlton young gun Sam Walsh enjoyed a stellar back-half of the 2020 season following on from his Rising Star winning campaign the year prior, with the highly-touted 20-year-old ready to take the next step under David Teague.

Walsh was a prominent figure out wide in the wings for Teague's side last season and thrived in the engine room when called upon, with the 2018 No.1 selection set for more time as an onballer in 2021.

“I think that that’s a transition I want to make with my game,” Walsh told SEN's Sportsday.

“The thing I pride myself on is being a versatile player, so I’m happy to play various roles for the team and a strength for us this year will be plenty of guys who can go through different roles and I think I can be one of them.

SAM WALSH
Midfielder
Carlton
2020 SEASON AVG
20.5
Disposals
2.8
Tackles
2.6
Clearances

“There’s things that I’m working on to try and transition my game into on-ball time so I’m continually working on that and we’ll see where that lands me.”

The Blues had a busy exchange period to end last year, acquiring Giants speedster Zac Williams, Essendon defender Adam Saad and young Geelong utility Lachie Fogarty, with their new recruits now placing pressure on the squad to deliver a promising 2021 campaign.

Despite finishing 11th in 2020, Walsh believes the expectations of playing September football are a fair assessment of the club and the direction they're heading.

“I reckon the expectation for us this year will be finals football this year, but it does sound cliché and boring … but we’re willing to put in the work to get to that position,” Walsh said.

“We want to play attacking and hard-nose footy. That’s how we want to be known as a club is really attacking and play an exciting brand of footy that allows us to win games of footy which ultimately leads to playing finals football.

“We want to be a physical team that moves the ball quick. With the weapons that we’ve now got and the way we’re training at the moment, I think that’s been a big focus for us, trying to move the ball quick to catch the opposition off guard and that’s something that’s been building nicely over the off-season.”