Walsh, star defender Jacob Weitering and spearhead Harry McKay are the three big names remaining at Ikon Park from the deep rebuild of 2015-18 overseen by former list boss Stephen Silvagni, who is now in that role with the Saints.
Walsh believes the changes he’s made to his training regimen will hold him in good stead to return to the type of form that earned him All-Australian selection in 2021 and the Gary Ayres Award as the competition’s best finals player in 2023.
With his contract signed, the challenge for Walsh is to play more games in 2026.Credit: Getty Images
This has been his first uninterrupted summer since his career-best season five years ago.
“My mind has been… probably searching into what my body needs,” Walsh said.
“The club backed me in to be able to do a bit of work in the off-season to get to work on a few different things, which I’m not going to go into, but I’m doing sort of even more work than I’ve ever done to build the confidence in my body, and hopefully that can be on show this year.”
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Walsh will be 34 when his contract expires, an age at which only the most durable players are still on the field.
“I’d like to think I’m still up there playing some of my best footy.” Walsh said.
“I look at a lot of other guys in the competition, and around sport… if you’re able to put the work in and sort of respect the position you’re in, and try and get elite training standards and habits, then it’s going to leave me in a really good place.
“I think there’s an element that that’s the risk the club takes [with a long-term contract], and then, for me, the positive for the club also is it’s able to plan and know that I’m committing, and I’m going to try and bring as much as I can in that eight years, whether it’s on or off the field.
“The thing that I love about [the] people that I had talks with throughout this conversation – they didn’t bring up injuries once. They spoke about the value of my character around the group, and that’s something that I wanted to shine through for the rest of the time here.”
Walsh said he was aware of interest from rival clubs but did not entertain the prospect of leaving Carlton, his home since being taken with the No.1 pick in the 2018 draft.
“It was a really straightforward decision for me,” Walsh said.
“I feel as though there’s a lot of talk around the last year [of the contract, but]… I’ve still got a whole year to go. It feels like a lot of the hype builds around this type of year, and I just wanted to get it done before the start of the season because I knew it was where I wanted to be.”
Walsh’s retention is being framed as a “huge coup” by the Blues, whose premiership drought ticked over to 30 years last season. Walsh has played just four finals in seven years at the club.
“Sam embodies everything we value at Carlton: elite standards, humility and a relentless drive to improve,” Carlton list manager Nick Austin said.
“To get his signature before the AFL season even starts perfectly sums up the type of player and person he is, and the type of environment we want to be building where our people believe in what they are helping create.”
Bailey’s contract won’t distract Lions, skipper vows
Jon Pierik
Brisbane co-captain Harris Andrews has declared the Lions are confident of retaining Zac Bailey, and insist the star goalkicker’s uncertain contract status will not disrupt their bid for premiership three-peat.
In demand: Zac Bailey has been a consistent mid-sized forward for the Brisbane Lions.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
Dual premiership player Bailey, 26, is one of the competition’s most coveted free agents and, as reported by this masthead, has several Victorian clubs, including Essendon and Collingwood, hoping to extricate him from the league’s most dominant team.
The Lions have offered Bailey a six-year extension. Industry sources wishing to remain anonymous to speak freely suggest Bailey could command more than $1.2 million in the open market.
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Andrews said the Lions were confident of retaining the man who booted 42 goals last year.
“Yeah, yeah, absolutely, definitely so. He is an integral part of what we have been able to achieve thus far, and it’s been awesome to see his development. Since he arrived at the club, he has come a long way. He has still a bit to go,” Andrews told this masthead.
Bailey’s manager Anthony McConville, of Mac’s Sports, said discussions remained ongoing.
Andrews said the Lions – and Bailey – remained focused on setting themselves up for another deep finals run in 2026.
“He is, obviously, a man in demand. We have gone through this the last couple of years with some guys [Hugh McCluggage, Cam Rayner and Callum Ah Chee]. There is, obviously, a little bit of interest in some of our guys, particularly our high performers,” Andrews said.
“We just do what we always do with our players – make them feel comfortable, acknowledge their contributions to our team and, ultimately, try and get them to stay.
“There is going to be a lot of media around him, but he is a great teammate, someone that is super locked in on us as a team, and really motivated to end up where we want to.”
Bailey remains integral to the Lions premiership hopes. He booted 3.6 in a dominant grand final, and began the new campaign last week with three goals in match simulation against Carlton.
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“He is such a good footballer. His ability to impact in and around the midfield and also ahead of the ball. He gets on the scoreboard which is great,” Andrews said.
Andrews said Bailey could seek advice from his fellow senior teammates, if needed.
“[It’s] early days. You let it unfold a bit organically. He would be having heaps of different conversations with guys around the club. We are all mates. We can all have grown-up conversations. At this point, we are just excited to start playing games and just improve,” he said.
With Carlton securing midfielder Sam Walsh to a long-term deal on Tuesday, Bailey sits alongside Gold Coast forward Ben King and Port Adelaide gun Zak Butters as the league’s key free agents.
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