Former AFL star Nathan Brown believes the footy media has been having an "unhealthy debate" about the 2018 draft
Brown claims Carltonโs Sam Walsh has been disrespected over the past 18 months after being taken by the Blues with the first overall selection in the 2018 draft.
Walsh won the Rising Star award in 2019 and has played 37 of a possible 37 games since being drafted.
Port Adelaide champion Kane Cornes has consistently reiterated his view the Blues โpicked the wrong bloke", favouring Port Adelaide forward Connor Rozee.
Cornes has said that Walsh isnโt the "damaging" player Carlton fans believe he is, with Brown stating Walsh and Rozee are โboth great playersโ in their own right.
โI just donโt think we need that sort of commentary โ and itโs not only Kane, but there were a fair few media people questioning Carltonโs pick,โ Brown toldย Footy Classified.
โI think itโs disrespectful to not only Sam Walsh, whoโs a fine young player, and also the Carlton Football Club whoโve picked him.
โLetโs maybe revisit it in five, six, seven years. Theyโve only played a handful of games each and Sam Walsh is starting to play some very good football.โ
Walsh is averaging 24 disposals and nine contested possessions from his past five games.
โItโs a bit disrespectful to compare one to the other,โ Brown said.
โIโm not saying Connor Rozee isnโt a great player โ I think heโs a fantastic player, I think we should be celebrating both players โ but itโs a bit premature to say Carlton got the No. 1 pick wrong.โ
"It's a bit premature to say Carlton got the number one pick wrong."@NathanBrown_07 has defended Blues youngster Sam Walsh, who should not have been the the number one pick in the 2018 draft according to @kanecornes.#9FootyClassified | Watch @channel9 pic.twitter.com/wwlKLVkSUo
— Footy on Nine (@FootyonNine) September 9, 2020
