SAM Walsh has been inducted into Carlton’s leadership group in only his second year.  

Alongside veterans of the Club, Walsh takes the commitment as an honour and is keen to get started. 

“It’s a huge honour to lead the club,” Walsh said.  

“Leadership has definitely been a passion of mine for a long time and I think we [as a club] have done a great job at promoting that.”

Walsh will be the youngest leader in the fold at just 19 years of age, however this will not deter him from fulfilling his duties. 

“Being one of the younger boys, I’ve been able to spend a lot of time with the first and second year guys, so being able to bring them up [will be my goal],” he said. 

“I think that’s the beauty of our club at the moment: no matter what your age or how many years you’ve played or how many games, your opinion is valued and that’s a really good culture we’ve got going at the moment.”

While Walsh is still developing as a young player, he had hesitation in taking on the role in his second year. 

“I definitely jumped at the opportunity,” he said.

“It’s a great privilege when it’s voted by your peer group and when they hold you in that regard, you do take it with great pride.”  

When it comes to leadership style, Walsh will compliment his peers with his ‘lead by example’ approach, as well as being vocal when necessary.   

“I’ve been able to gain a fair bit of knowledge of the game from the older players and learning a lot of things in the past year so now I’m starting to be a bit more vocal with the things I see,” he said. 

“I think definitely at the start for me it was to come into the club and earn the respect of the boys and work hard, from there you can lead by example.”