MAKING a name for himself among the competition’s elite.

Carlton has an emerging star on its hands, with Sam Walsh having hit the ground running in his first year in Navy Blue.  

The speedy midfielder has proven himself as a ready-made footballer in the opening 10 games of his debut season.

Having worked with him closely since his arrival at Ikon Park, development coach Brent Stanton praised the youngster for his commitment at senior level to date.

“He walked into the football club only seven months ago and really produced and showed us his character,” Stanton said.

“There’s no doubt of the reason why he is producing the games that he’s playing at the moment and it’s just off the back of work ethic and character.”

The young gun has cemented himself as a pivotal component of the Blues’ midfield despite his short time at AFL level.

Walsh’s numbers say it all, with the 18-year-old averaging over 24 disposals, five marks and three clearances a game. 

According to Stanton, that comes down to a combination of his work-rate, maturity and football nous.

 “He sort of took on the drills like he was third or fourth year player and it was his first training session and we thought, ‘wow this kid is something special’,” he said. 

“He’s still got things in his game that he’s working on and to his credit he keeps asking for new stuff, but we just have to slow him down a little bit.”

Walsh has slotted seamlessly into the Blues’ developing young midfield, headed up by co-captain Patrick Cripps.

Despite his age, Walsh has already demonstrated glimpses of his leadership credentials in his outings to date.

“[Our midfielders] are young as everyone understands. They’re working and they are trying to work out how each other play and that takes a little bit of time,” he said.

“‘Walshy’ demonstrates a lot of leadership capabilities: he’s only played 10 games of footy but is an exciting kid to be around.”