“THERE are plenty of steps I have to take to be a leader of the Club but that’s something I aspire to do.”

Despite his footballing life just getting started, Sam Walsh is already looking at the bigger picture.

In particular, what he wants to achieve at Carlton.

The emerging star spoke to Fox Footy’s On the Mark on Wednesday night, where his opening few months in the AFL firmly on the agenda.

And having signed on already until the end of 2022, Walsh is looking ahead to what lies in store in Navy Blue.

“Since stepping into the Club, I’ve felt so welcome and so has my family,” Walsh said.

“We’ve been talking about building a really strong group that can be successful for many years.

“We know that’s going to take a lot of hard work and a lot of learning, but we’re going in the right direction — especially with those we have around us at the Club.”

Yet to drop below 20 disposals in a match, Walsh became the 10th player to amass 200 disposals within his first eight career games.

With leadership intentions for the future, the former Geelong Falcons and Vic Country captain doesn’t have to look far for inspiration.

“If you can lead by actions, then others will follow: it’s one thing ‘Crippa’ does so well at the moment,” he said.

“His actions are great but so are his words in helping others.

“Coming in, I’ve set goals to earn the respect of the group and work hard.”

In an era where it’s becoming more frequent for players to not watch other games of AFL, that doesn’t hold true for the No.1 pick.

Given his outstanding start, it should come as no surprise that Walsh is a self-proclaimed “footyhead”.

“The boys think [that] a bit: Will Setterfield and I do love watching our footy and we take keen interest in that,” he said.

“We watch it for a bit of fun but also to learn off other players, which I think is pretty valuable.”