AS COURAGEOUS as it gets.
Sam Walsh’s sensational display of courage has been rewarded with the 2020 rebel Mark of the Year.
In the third quarter of a gripping encounter with Port Adelaide, Carlton needed their leaders to step up in a see-sawing contest.
That leader just happened to be the 20-year-old.
Not taking his eye off the ball for 50 metres, Walsh flew into a pack of four players - including a red-hot Charlie Dixon - to haul in as good a mark as you will see.
Sometimes, words can’t do it justice: just look at the mark for yourself.
It was an individual moment which summed up Walsh to a T, giving his all for the team and putting everything on the line no matter the consequences.
He was announced as the winner of the 2020 rebel Mark of the Year on Brownlow night, pipping Brisbane’s Charlie Cameron and GWS’ Ian Hill.
Becoming Carlton’s first Mark of the Year winner since Matthew Lappin in 1999, Walsh’s mark was the first of its kind - running back with the flight of the ball - to win the award since his childhood hero Jonathan Brown in 2002.
