Sam Walsh has been the Blue in the gun this week for not quite hitting the heights suggested by his debut season. The Carlton midfield is by no means in the top echelon of the league, but it has a few stars and he is one of them with a Rising Star medal around his neck. Mind you, several others who won that award have fallen away after their first campaign so it's no guarantee of 200 games of service. He lacks the burst speed to become an inside-outside threat so his value has to be in superior workrate between stoppages. He remains a fantasy favourite, nonetheless.
Sam Walsh has been the Blue in the gun this week for not quite hitting the heights suggested by his debut season. The Carlton midfield is by no means in the top echelon of the league, but it has a few stars and he is one of them with a Rising Star medal around his neck. Mind you, several others who won that award have fallen away after their first campaign so it's no guarantee of 200 games of service. He lacks the burst speed to become an inside-outside threat so his value has to be in superior workrate between stoppages. He remains a fantasy favourite, nonetheless.
Sam Walsh is part of a still-young but developing Carlton running division, spending a lot of time forward last year but starting well in midfield in Marsh week one.
Walsh is a walk-up start
Endurance freak Sam Walsh delivered one of the best first-year showings in AFL history. He ranked first amongst the rising stars in almost every category, including fantasy score, and proved to be one of Carlton's most consistent players. 32 touches against Brisbane is a sign of things to come for Walsh, the highlight of 13 matches of 25+ disposals. The only qualm on his game was a top 20 ranking for turnovers - although do fantasy coaches in basic scoring leagues really care about that? He is already a superstar and will be the kingpin of fantasy engine rooms for years to come. You don't tag the elite-running Walsh when Marc Murphy and Patrick Cripps are more susceptible to physical pressure, so this young gun should defy any talk of second-year blues. He should go in the first round in keeper leagues, and will probably go in the first two to four rounds in redraft leagues as he's so much fun to own.
Sam Walsh has spent most of his still-young career starting forward and rotating in midfield, as is the done thing these days with draftees who need to be protected somewhat from the full rough and tumble of senior footy as they develop. In this role he hasn't been all that exciting for fantasy purposes, but a recent shift to half back to play the role left open by the injured Jarrod Garlett could be the key to unlocking his potential, especially in the short term.
Sam Walsh is in just about every salary cap fantasy team of worth, as it was obvious from his junior days that he was as ready for senior contests in his first listed year as anyone since Nathan Buckley.
Buck stops with Walsh
It is not hard to see why Sam Walsh is already the raging favourite to take out the 2019 Rising Star award, as he dominated the Championships to win the Larke Medal and reached a rate of 30 disposals in the TAC Cup. He has a complete inside-outside game with more of a focus on attack rather than mopping up in defence, though he does the latter too. The Blues were criticised after the draft for picking too safe at number 1, as others in the first round were claimed to have more long-term potential. If the club wants to prove the knockers wrong, it must play him from round 1 and keep picking him if fit for the next 300 games. Even if his ceiling is less Nathan Buckley and more Daniel Rich, he will be a fine servant for the club and be useful from game one. His job security should be rock solid and there are no particular fitness concerns; however, his raging popularity in salary cap formats should not be replicated for draft leagues as 18-year-olds rarely beat the midfielder baseline... though Bux did.
