SAM WALSH has been a face of hope for Carlton since arriving as the club's prized No.1 pick in 2018. And he has his own hopes about where the Blues can get to.

The star midfielder spoke with Cal Twomey for this week's Cal's Q&A, revealing the pain behind his significant back injury and the long rehabilitation, Carlton's run of form, the impact of being the top draft pick, his famous competitive streak, leadership ambitions and how he's finding every way to get better.

Carlton's won four in a row and the finals are back within sight. Did you ever lose confidence that you could still challenge for a top-eight spot this season?

It got to the point where that really wasn't even in our thinking. We just wanted it to feel like we were playing our way, and it wasn't feeling like that. In parts of games we'd get it back a bit and then there was inconsistency and it led to us getting down in confidence. Now when you know what that feeling's like, you don't want to go back there.

Your own form has been pivotal in that run as well. How close do you feel to your best?

I've been definitely better the past month or so. I was coming back from the injury early days and was somewhat trying to force a few things with my game rather than letting it come to me. My kicking and ground balls is where I've been restricted since coming back from my surgery. My running has always been pretty strong but when you're chasing your form you try a bit harder and it doesn't come and as a team we were a bit like that as well.

This time last year you were starting to battle the back injury that eventually saw you miss the final round of the season and then have to undergo surgery in December, which sidelined you until round five this year. What was that initial time like?

Looking back on it now it felt like it all happened really quick but it was probably slowly ticking away. I'd never had any back problems in my career prior to that. I had the bulging disc in my back and it was pressing on a nerve. When everyone asks how my back is, it wasn't actually my back that was hurting that much, it was all this nerve pain running down my right leg. It got to the point where I couldn't run. My calf was switched on because it was getting the wrong messages because my nerve was compressed. After the Brisbane game in round 21 I knew something was up and I played the Melbourne game the next week and that tied in with us pushing for finals. It was a hard period.

The image of you with your head in your hands in the coaches box as Collingwood hit the front last year in round 23 summed up that moment.

It was one of the worst days to experience because you can't go out there and help which is what you want to do for your team. Rocking up to the game it felt like a finals day – the weather was good, 90,000 people there, it's what you dream of as a kid – so to not be out there definitely burned pretty deep. Everyone has their ups and downs in footy and hopefully that motivates me for periods of time when you're feeling a bit sore or in the grind of the season.

What went into the call to finally undergo the surgery?

At the end of the season I rested and it got a bit better and took a bit of tension off the nerve. As I started to ramp up the training I felt alright but as soon as I got back into kicking and ground balls it flared up again and I couldn't settle it down. At my age you want to avoid surgery as much as you can so we did that but it got debilitating. Without sounding too dramatic, I couldn't sit down or lay down without any pain. It got to the point where not only physical activity was giving me pain but in November there was a sharp pain constantly. It's hard to explain. I bump into people who say they had the same thing and they'll say it's terrible. Sixty per cent of people have a bulging disc but it's not on the nerve whereas mine was. Will Tardif our physio has been great for my program. There's still bits and pieces I'm still working on with my back but I've been able to function pretty well this year.

If you had your time again would you have had done it earlier? 

With hindsight, you probably do because it wasn't going to settle down. Some people have said 'Why did you take so long?' but it wasn't as if we were doing nothing over those three months. We tried a few injections that didn't work and we tried a few other things and ticked off everything that possibly could help it to avoid surgery but the surgeon I had was really good and it gave me confidence that he'd worked with a fair few footballers before. It seemed pretty evident that was the way to go.

So Christmas Day spent recovering from back surgery?

I was around my family so that was good but it's usually a pretty happy time of the year and I'm there laying on the bed. Because I was in a fair bit of pain before the surgery, after I had the operation it nearly instantly relieved the strong nerve pain so it was a bit of a relief. It was more that New Year's period where everyone is having a bit of fun and then the boys get back into training which was tough and I had to get into the grind. I'm pretty purpose driven. I tried to come back a better player, not just feeling better. 

Have you still got any nerve pain now?

The thing with nerves is if they have been damaged they can take up to 12 months to recover. I've probably learned how powerful an action of kicking a footy really is when you have a bit of a nerve issue. But all in all I'm feeling really good. I have been working on my power and I feel that's starting to come through. Now that my back's in a good place, the biggest thing for me is to keep working on that and not think that it's going to stay good without work. 

Being a No.1 pick means your form is always highly critiqued. You copped some criticism for your form this year while still returning from the injury. Was it fair?

There are periods of time where there's a lot of guys in the AFL who aren't playing at 100 per cent. I know how I was feeling and the support I had from in the club and what I was working at, and I knew if I kept working at it things would turn. Those people who might have been doubting a few things hopefully they can nod their head and say 'Well done'. I try not to get caught up in too much of it but there's also a bit of pride in putting my best performance out each week.

Five years on, are you glad you went No.1?

I wouldn't change anything. There always is a fair bit of talk around No.1 as there is this year, and I didn't have the hype that Harley (Reid) is getting, but there is a lens on it. No matter what club I went to I wanted to come in and earn the respect of the boys, make some really good friendships and then get some really good success. You slowly forget being the No.1 pick when you walk into the doors of a footy club because it doesn't really matter too much. With No.1 you are probably always coming into a club that is down the lower end so I'd love to be a part of the build from hard times. Hopefully we're on that path.

Everyone who knows you understands your competitive streak. Do you still measure yourself against those fellow 2018 draftees?

There's always an element of tracking and seeing how they're going, and I am pretty competitive so there is that side of it. I don't worry about it too much now. It's turned out so far to be a strong draft. The comparisons happen in footy for players at the same age, and it's happened with our draft more than most it seems. Everyone is at different positions in their career so it's always hard to look at the draft and straight out compare people's different situations.

You go from living down at Ocean Grove and finishing school in Geelong to being on posters and footy cards. How did you handle that losing of your anonymity?

It all happens so quick, especially when you're at a big club like Carlton. The biggest thing for us during the season is that we're at the club so much that you're not really involved in the outside world as much as it seems but as soon as you step into the off-season and bump into people you realise how big of an impact you can have. I love when little kids come up to you and say they love watching you play.

Being a star at Carlton brings plenty of attention but I've felt you do a good job of separating your public and private personas. Is that a conscious thing?

You've known me for a while and we met each other when I was 17 and as you go you figure out some things. Around the club it's always good fun and you are yourself and outside of that I don't get involved in a lot of the media stuff. I enjoy doing these pieces where you can reflect back and see where you've come through and I've had a lot of good guys to look up to with their balance. 'Crippa' (captain Patrick Cripps) is unreal with that – he can have fun and enjoy the company of his mates but also switches on when he needs to and is very respectful. We're all in a pretty privileged position so to have a bit of our life played out in the public isn't always a bad thing.

When we did that first interview it was before the AFL Academy played an under-17s game in New Zealand and you were excited because Simon Black was playing in the opposition and you were a big Lions fan. The next year we chatted at your house and your room was decked out in Brisbane posters and Michael Voss memorabilia. How have you found being coached by a childhood hero?

I probably slightly missed the prime 'Vossy' being born in 2000 but I've watched all those highlights and people speak about his presence on the field and you feel his presence as a coach, which is really cool. He's really levelheaded but has that edge about him as well. The biggest thing he wants out of us is to be really competitive with the standards we set and he also connects with the guys really well. I've really enjoyed him as a coach so far and even through the tough times he stuck to his guns on what he wanted to be about.

You've done a level two coaching course. Could you see yourself coaching in the future?

I definitely can for the fact that I love being around a footy club and enjoy watching footy and it's hard to get that at any other workplace. I think I'll always keep that in the back of my mind but I'm happy to just be enjoying being a player.

You won the Rising Star in 2019 and didn't miss a game for three seasons before the syndesmosis last year and then the back injury. What did you find out about yourself through that?

I had a really good run for the first three years and I wasn't missing many training sessions so my body was able to hold the load. I was good with my recovery and those things but with certain injuries you realise you can go to another level with your body, be it in the gym or in Pilates, they're things I've gained from a poor situation with injuries. I looked at other ways to better myself. In the past couple of years with my extra time I've done a lot of touch work but now it's also mixed in with mobility training and Pilates and I'm more well rounded.

In that time you became vice-captain after three seasons. How has your leadership developed?

It's easier to lead when everything's going well but for us in the leadership group this year we've gone to work on how we take ownership of things as a group, what are the reasons we are inconsistent in some areas and how do we get better? To be able to have guys like 'Weiters' (Jacob Weitering) and 'Crippa' to look up to has been great as they are both very levelheaded and positive guys, but they're also realistic as well.

I can always remember you setting high standards through junior programs and I don't think you suffer fools. How have you developed that balance?

It's a good point, because I am a fairly competitive person and sometimes that can get channelled into areas if I don't feel like guys are at the level on something. But it's channelling that in the right way. The best thing I've tried to do is keep looking for the positives and if guys are doing something well then you just point it out and that breeds good culture.

I know you love your international sports. Which one has you hooked at the moment and how do you try to grow your athlete mindset?

I've bounced around following a lot of and at the moment it's the soccer. There's a lot of lads at the club who are keen on it and we did the Premier League Fantasy competition. When the World Cup was on that was great. I always find the guys who are the top of the game amazing to watch. The boys get stuck into me at home (Walsh has teammates Charlie Curnow, Paddy Dow and Matt Kennedy living at his house) because I just love my sports docos so they get into me every time one gets released I have to get on and watch it.

Netflix has just released its Quarterback series, following the stars of the NFL. Have you got into that yet?  

Yeah I've watched all of it already. I'm always intrigued to see what the best athletes do away from the club or what goes into their week. I reckon some of those docos are pretty insightful now so I enjoy doing that. I watched a fair few episodes after the game on the weekend.

So you have the best win of your season over Port Adelaide and then are back at home getting stuck into the Netflix series?

I had dinner with mum and dad and then went home and couldn't sleep after the game so I chucked on a few episodes. I follow the NFL and we were lucky enough to get over to the States in the off-season and watched a few NFL games.

Opponents say your work rate is off the charts as a midfielder. When you're feeling good, what's going through your mind on the field?

It's a good question because sometimes when you're having your best games you're not thinking that much. You're in a bit of a rhythm. My strength as a player is to spread from inside of the contest to out and get really busy in that area. A big part of my game is to do with getting to the next contest and to keep fronting up. When I'm playing my best it's those repeat efforts and staying involved in the play.

Within that, we see your flair whenever you kick a goal with the range of celebrations. When did they become a part of your repertoire?

I get a lot of questions about them from kids, they all love it. With Instagram and TikTok the celebrations probably get thrown around a bit more which is cool, and I enjoy a lot of my other sports as well so the way the soccer players carry on after a goal is good fun. I haven't kicked too many goals this year so I need to get on the end of a few more for some celebrations.

We know your competitiveness flows into off the field – chess battles at home, FIFA contests. Is it right that Brodie Kemp's first goal celebration was mimicking you from an old FIFA match?

It did involve me. In the hub I think I beat 'Kempy' 10 times in a row before he got me once and when he did he was pretty smug and was rubbing the face and had a grin on his face and that's become his trademark. When it gets pretty intense in FIFA he pulls out some random celebrations. Anyone who knows Kempy, if you've got the edge over him on something then he'll want to get you back.

The competitiveness always comes back to winning. How does Carlton taste success and is everything you do about reaching that?

It's hard not to think like that sometimes. That's why everyone plays footy to get that ultimate success and for us being part of such a big club, knowing the enjoyment that would bring so many people is there. But also guys who have been through a lot with the club. We know there's a lot of things that have to go our way but if you keep on doing a lot of the right things, including playing for each other, then I reckon that will steer us in the right direction.