“I LOOK forward to what’s to come.”

Sam Walsh's 2024 campaign didn’t start as planned, missing the opening month for the second straight season.

Returning in Round 6, Walsh hit the ground running to play every game for the rest of the year, including the elimination final.

Rejoining the side for his 100th AFL game gave Walsh a chance to reflect on the unprecedented run he had so far in his career.

“It’s been tougher with the injury part because I was fortunate enough throughout all my juniors and AFL career, I didn’t have to deal with that,” Walsh told the Summer Sessions podcast. 

“I didn’t even see it as a part of sport when it hadn’t happened to me.”

Walsh’s 2021 season was his best to date, finishing the year with his inaugural John Nicholls Medal, 30 Brownlow votes and finished runner-up in the AFLPA MVP. 

The sky was the limit for the then-21-year-old, but an ankle syndesmosis injury disrupted the start of his 2022 season, followed by back injuries that impacted the beginnings of both 2023 and 2024.

This led Walsh to have to drop his self-proclaimed ‘manic’ training efforts, take a step back and learn to - in his words - "listen to [his] body".

While it was a tough time for the co-vice captain, he admitted it taught him a lot about himself and how to move forward as a person and footballer. 

“I used to come into the Club and go bananas for training sessions, do all the skills and touch before training,” he said. 

“The thing that I’ve learnt through all of that is the way to prepare my body in the best way possible and I had to learn that in a hard way.”

Listening to his body and putting as much effort into his preparation as he did his training was the way he got through those trying years, and it definitely paid off.  

Walsh played 20 consecutive games in 2024, averaging 28 disposals, six tackles (ranking sixth in the league for tackles per game) and five clearances, while also polling 16 Brownlow votes (his second-best career tally). 

“The little things add up and as frustrating as it was missing the start of 2024, I was able to play the rest of the season. It showed that if I can keep on listening and learning ways to look after my body, then I’ll be able to do what I love,” he said. 

“There’s nothing worse than watching games: if the boys get a win you feel you missed out on it and if they lose, you want to be there to try and help.

“I definitely have developed a lot of empathy for guys that have had serious injuries.”

Things appear to be returning to normal for the midfielder, who is now focused on meeting his team's expectations after back-to-back finals appearances over the past two years.

Joining the Club in 2019 as a No.1 draft pick, Walsh stepped into the foundations of a developing culture that was in the early phases of setting up on-field success.

Now a co-vice captain, he reflected on the leadership group and key drivers of the team, feeling a responsibility to mentor the incoming youngsters, just as he was guided when he first arrived at IKON Park.

“I’d come into a team that’s finished bottom – I was lucky enough to walk into a really good culture being set by the leaders and everyone at the Club at the time,” he said. 

“I felt I was able to come in - hopefully, like these boys are now - and just be myself, train hard and be given a bit of a blueprint: 'if you work towards this, you’re able to have a good start'. 

“There are going to be ups and downs that you go through but if you bounce out of those downs, find out why you were in those positions and move forward, that’s how you build an identity as a team.”

Speaking on the Summer Sessions podcast during the pre-season camp on the Sunshine Coast, the midfielder said that he performs at his best when focused on the present rather than worrying about the future.

With an emphasis on being fully engaged during camp before recharging over Christmas, he encouraged his teammates to turn up to every session with purpose, embrace the journey ahead and commit to the one-percenters that would give the team the best possible chance against the competition.

“As a group, being able to stay present is huge,” he said. 

“There’s no point in us worrying about Round 1 right now – we’re up on camp, enjoy that and when we’re back in January, you get closer to games. It feels like the intensity of games at the moment, so if you’re not prepared for that session, you won’t be giving yourself the best shot. 

“Inside the team, I feel like there’s a good competitiveness at the moment, that creates high standards.”