SUNDAY night’s John Nicholls Medal presentation carried an even greater significance for its worthy winner Sam Walsh. It was, in the truest sense, the first time he’d got to experience the feeling of being crowned Carlton’s best and fairest footballer, as his previous triumph in the count had unfolded in near-total isolation.

“It sort of feels nearly like the first time I’ve won the award, just for the fact in 2021 when I won it, I was behind a computer screen at home,” said Walsh, recalling a count conducted amid the grip of COVID-19 lockdown, when players, officials, members and supporters alike were scattered across their living rooms rather than united under the one roof.

That night, he said, still held meaning – “it was nice to share it with the family” - but it was a muted, solitary kind of triumph when compared with the ’26 vibe.

“To be able to share it [the award] with so many people at the Club who have had a big impact on me and the other award recipients as well made it a good night,” said Walsh of the humanity in the house as opposed to webcam’s faceless of five years past.

Incredibly, the 26 year-old polled in every single game of what was his eighth season for Carlton, underlining a consistency of performance rarely if ever matched. Asked to nominate a showing that had stuck with him, Walsh identified the team victory over the ultimate premiers Brisbane and, on a personal level, the season opener in Sydney.

“It’d been a couple of years there where I’d missed Opening Round, and individually, I just was hellbent on trying to transfer the pre-season training I put in to translate to my game,” Walsh explained. Though the result didn’t go Carlton’s way, the player saw his own solid performance as fitting return for the hard yards across the summer.

As he said: “Once I got that one under my belt, I was like, ‘I can keep bringing this each week’.”

Much of Walsh's growth through 2026 was, by his own admission, less about physical conditioning and more about a shift in mindset – one he accredits to Travis Boak’s influence as Carlton’s Leadership and Culture appointee. Having long regarded Boak as a benchmark opponent and a player he admired from afar, Walsh unhesitatingly declared that the former Port Adelaide player’s presence around the place was profound.

“Boaky’s’ been huge for me . . . the impact he’s made, particularly in the mental space,” Walsh said. “He’s probably one of those players throughout my career that I always looked up to, and whenever I’d do sportsman’s nights and get questioned about who’s the player you respect or hardest guy you played on, it was Travis Boak.

“I feel like I've always been one to try and pride myself on the work rate I bring, but there’s also another part to the game  . . . [to] realise not everything’s about footy.”

"He (Boak) has been a terrific support for me, and I feel like we’ve got a good relationship there . . . “

That theme of mental recalibration was evident through much of Walsh’s reflection on the season that was – perhaps the most significant of his 158-game career without playing down anything that had come before. He pointed to a growing willingness to seek input from others and to lean into what he sees as one of his core strengths, his football intelligence.

“I was probably more willing to ask questions and realise that one of my strengths as a player is my smarts,” he said, readily conceding that he’d previously fallen into the trap of trying to force his influence on games – “[and] I think that when you do that in sport you don't play off instinct, and you’re going in with preconceived ideas”. Much of that mind shift, Walsh said, came under the guidance of midfield mentor Leigh Adams, whom he described as a “real strength-based coach” - a philosophy that dovetailed neatly with his own growing appetite for self-examination.

The 2026 medal hung around his neck by the great ‘Big Nick’ brings glorious finality to a year in which Walsh committed to Carlton as a player for another eight. To the question of security in his employment, Walsh was unequivocal about what drove him to commit long-term.

“I just wanted to feel valued at the Club,” he said, crediting senior figures including Chris Davies for making that clear to him throughout the process.

“It’s your dream to play AFL footy, but then to do it for another eight years - I haven't even started that new contract yet - I actually feel so blessed, and I'll never take that for granted,” he said.

“One thing the Club will always get out of me is the work rate and love for the game.”

Looking ahead to 2027, Walsh struck an optimistic but measured tone regarding his football club’s trajectory, echoing sentiments expressed earlier in the night by senior figures at the Club.

“I love what’s been mentioned tonight,” he said after the count. “At the end of the day, you’ve got to build it off the right stuff.”

Walsh pointed to the emergence of younger talent at the Club, citing the season’s Rising Star nominees as an indicator of the depth surely building, whilst cautioning against complacency.

“It's not going to rest on their shoulders,” he said, “but at the end of the day, if you’ve got a group that really wants it (and I do feel like we're getting that) and we've got that talent level too, then anything’s possible.”

With a long-term contract signed, a settled midfield taking shape and a second best-and-fairest now properly celebrated among teammates rather than through a laptop screen, Walsh heads into post-season as a player entering the prime in both career and influence – which can only be a good thing for Carlton.