Being a local boy from the western district, I’d met Sam Walsh a few times before he landed at Carlton.

From the moment he walked into the doors at IKON Park, Walshy wanted to earn everyone’s respect through hard work and that was very noticeable from the get go. He has an ability to push himself to 100 per cent no matter what he is doing.

He’s settled in to life at the AFL level incredibly well, although it hasn’t come as a surprise to anyone inside the club.

He’s a pretty impressive young guy and is determined to show that just because it’s his first year that doesn’t mean he can’t contribute and get the best out of himself straight away.

Sammy has certainly been able to achieve that. When he first arrived to Carlton, he moved in with myself and Patrick Cripps and was quite shy.

We’ve since moved and are now living with Will Setterfield and Matt Kennedy and I’ve certainly got to know him better.

He loves having a laugh, is very clean and respectful but his cooking skills need some work.

He’s only got two meals in his repertoire and they are vegemite toast and ice cream soup! So he’s got a looong way to go on that front.

One thing I’ve learnt about Sammy since living with him, is he gets a bit restless late at night.

We’ll all be sitting around the couch, pretty exhausted from a big day at training and all of a sudden he gets a burst of energy and will start carrying on and being a pest in multiple ways.

Around 8.30pm is usually when this mood kicks in! I think it would have something to do with the amount of food he eats, for only a skinny fella he can shovel it in with the best of them.

Sammy is massive American Sports fan, mainly the NBA and NFL. He considers himself a bit of a baller but he’s a bit delusional.

His jump shot needs a bit of work so I’ve got him covered one-on-one at this stage.

He came into the club with the No.1 draft pick tag but I don’t think it’s phased him one bit. I’m sure his own expectations are higher than anyone else’s expectations of him, which I think everyone is starting to realise.

He’s incredibly hard on himself and as soon as he makes a mistake or wants to improve an area of his game, he goes straight to work.

It’s hard to believe he’s only played four games so there are many more to come.