“IT HAS been a fairly unusual first year.”

In a year he was always going to remember, Sam Philp provided the understatement to defeat all understatements.

The 2020 season was meant to be one of a new beginning for Philp and his fellow draftees: one with the start of a memorable AFL journey.

While that hasn’t gone away, the most remarkable of years has meant that football has been put on the back-burner.

For Philp, there was the initial fear of a debut season being completely wiped after a lifetime working towards the goal.

“In the early stages, when quite a few of the shock announcements were coming through, it did cross my mind that the whole year may go by and we wouldn’t play at all,” Philp said.

“You see how important it is and how much everyone in the industry needs these games to go ahead.”

Touted for his work ethic prior to being drafted, Philp has taken the approach to this layoff period as the chance to get an edge on the opposition — as recommended by his senior teammates.

Always hoping to achieve his dream of an AFL debut in year one, Philp was doing everything he could to make that a reality: he was an emergency in Round 1 against Richmond.

Not wanting to rule out a first taste of senior football, Philp also said he didn’t want to “look too far into the future”.

However, the chance to be involved in an interstate trip during the Marsh Community Series as well as being present at the MCG in Round 1 was an initiation he believes will hold him in good stead.

“It was really good to see how everyone went about it and also you want to be ready to go,” he said.

“It was a really good experience going into Round 1 and it was quite an eerie feeling being one of the only blokes in the stands once the game started.

“You could pretty much hear everything going out on the field.”

Of course, Philp was no stranger to the atmosphere in the season opener, coming from a family of diehard Richmond supporters growing up.

However, he said it hasn’t taken long for yellow and black to be replaced by Navy Blue.

With his dad an MCG employee, he would’ve pulled rank if Carlton’s No.34 was called up to play the first game.

“He was saying during the week that, depending on how it was going to go, he’d try and sneak into a corporate box! He went home and watched it on TV,” he said.

“He’s Carlton. He said to me that he found himself going for the ‘Baggers, so that was good to hear.”

Living in his family home in Greensborough, the former Northern Knight said he was undertaking the training program and isolation plans set out by Andrew Russell and Luke Power.

With a focus on skill execution, he said it would be centred around a potential mid-forward role once the season resumes — whenever that is.

“I had a pretty even mix between playing forward and going through the middle for the pre-season,” he said.

“I’m trying to nail those areas: that half-forward, if there’s an opportunity, that’s where it’ll be.

“I’m so eager to get back.”