COMETH the moment, cometh the man.

Carlton was challenged on Saturday night. After opening up a 24-point lead in the third term, four consecutive goals to GWS saw scores level in the last minute before the final change.

It was a position not too dissimilar to what the Blues faced earlier in the season. But when they needed someone to stand up, among others, their co-vice captain did just that.

Benefiting from the good work of Harry Dean with the initial intercept and then a clever inside 50 from Mitch McGovern, the Sherrin was in Sam Walsh’s hands when the siren went.

Going back and nailing the set shot, it reinstated the team’s lead and kickstarted a run of four consecutive goals which ended in Carlton’s fifth consecutive win.

“To be honest, at the top of my mark I was probably feeling the pinch a little bit,” Walsh told 3AW post-match.

“I told myself to relax. I’ve been doing a fair bit of work on my finish, it’s let me down a bit. I was happy to kick through the ball and I hit it pretty sweet.

“I was pretty pumped, as you could probably tell by the celebration.”

Walsh was brilliant on Saturday evening, combining well with Patrick Cripps, George Hewett and Jagga Smith on the way to a 34-disposal performance which saw him voted by Carlton fans as their player of the match.

After losing seven consecutive games earlier in the year (some of those in seemingly can’t-lose scenarios), the Blues have found different ways to win from their last five games.

A big believe in winning habits becoming “contagious”, Walsh said the Blues’ capacity to execute ‘solution-based footy’ was holding them in good stead as they continue to turn their year around.

“We’ve been working hard on our system since pre-season. In the third quarter, we were winning the ball back well, but we kept chucking it on our boot and feeding their ball movement.

“Sometimes it’s a hard thing to break, when you start the year and finding ways to lose games. As leaders, we’re trying to drive winning habits because it hasn’t been a thing at this club in terms of consistency - we’re still a long way from that.

“Those younger boys have added to it, they’ve got a love for the game. If it gets hard during the week or in-game, you can draw back on that and you have a connection, strong group.”