Sam Walsh was a readymade star when drafted, and has become one of Carlton’s most important players. Photo: AFL MEDIA
After travelling back to 1997 on Thursday, we’ve hopped back in the time machine and skipped forward a couple of decades for the latest instalment of the Footyology “Redraft” series.
Today, the acid test gets applied to the 2018 AFL draft and, like the 2017 Redraft last week, this crop of players are very much in the infancy of their careers, so the revised top 10 is far from set in stone.
After just four seasons, the 2018 Redraft is already full of exceptional talent, but they will have to keep their wits about them, because there’s a whole clutch of potential stars who are knocking on the door of the revised top 10 and more than capable of entering it over the next five years.
However, one man that is highly unlikely to lose his spot is star Carlton midfielder Sam Walsh.
The All-Australian has created history by becoming the first original No.1 pick in 29 Footyology Redrafts to hold on to the mantle upon revision.
And while there is plenty of water still to flow under the bridge for the class of 2018, it would be a game punter to bet against Walsh still sitting atop the pile in 10 years’ time.
Walsh was a readymade star when he was drafted, and in a very short period of time has become one of Carlton’s best and most important players.
In just four years, the 22-year-old has collected an All-Australian jumper, a best-and-fairest, a Rising Star, an AFLPA best first year player award and an AFLCA best young player award. Oh, and he also took the mark of the year in 2020, if you don’t mind.
A key cog in the Blues’ engine room, Walsh finished fourth in the 2021 Brownlow Medal count with 30 votes and in 81 games has averaged a brilliant 27 disposals (10 contested), five marks, four tackles and four clearances.
There is no obvious ceiling on Walsh’s potential, and it wouldn’t surprise to see him win a Brownlow or two by the end of his career.
Coming in at second spot in the revised top 10 is flamboyant Bulldogs midfielder Bailey Smith who, like Walsh, has quickly established himself as one of the pre-eminent on-ballers in the league.
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Smith, who was originally taken at pick seven, hit the ground running at Whitten Oval, before entering the stratosphere during the 2021 finals series when he strung together a spectacular month of footy to be a driving force behind the Dogs’ surge to the grand final.
He may not have the official accolades to his name yet that Walsh has already accumulated, but it’s just a matter of time before the explosive and damaging Smith starts filling his trophy cabinet.
Completing the top three is the man that has perhaps been compared to Walsh more than any other 2018 draftee – Port Adelaide’s Connor Rozee.
It’s already been a rollercoaster ride for the former No.5 pick, who started his career with a bang in 2019, then experienced a bit of a lull over the next couple of seasons, before returning with a bang in 2022 when he was moved into the midfield and flourished.
Rozee averaged 23 touches (eight contested), four tackles, four marks and kicked 18 goals last season to earn his first All-Australian blazer, and his trajectory is going upwards with an arrow.
Premiership Cat Tom Atkins gets an upgrade of 85 spots from the 11th pick in the rookie draft to No.4 and St Kilda forward Max King rounds out the top five after sliding down from four.
King’s teammate Callum Wilkie also enjoys a huge promotion of 75 spots from third in the rookie draft to No.6, Rozee’s fellow 2018 Power “Big Three” member Zak Butters jumps up from 12 to seven, and Sydney midfielder James Rowbottom increased his standing from 25 to eight.
Rowbottom’s teammate Nick Blakey and Gold Coast defender Jack Lukosius, who was originally taken at pick No.2, take positions nine and 10 respectively in the Redraft.
And the recruiters get a big tick considering six members of the original top 10 held their spots in the top bracket – Walsh, Smith, Rozee, King, Blakey and Lukosius.
But if they want to keep it that way, they still have work to do, because the likes of Gold Coast forward Ben King, Collingwood defender Isaac Quaynor, Fremantle goalsneak Lachie Schultz, Adelaide backman Jordon Butts, new Crows recruit Izak Rankine, Swans young gun Justin McInerney, premiership Demon Tom Sparrow, promising Power midfielder Xavier Duursma and rock-solid Brisbane defender Noah Answerth, are all lurking just outside the revised top 10.
