It's taken Sam Walsh four rounds to win an AFL Rising Star nomination, and the odds suggest the Carlton midfielder will win the prize 18 rounds later.
Walsh is so short-priced to win the honour for best young player, it's more likely he wins it than everyone else combined.
Not bad when you consider there are more than 100 eligible players for the award, previously won by Brownlow Medal winners Sam Mitchell, Adam Goodes and Ben Cousins.
The 18-year-old Walsh, the No.1 pick in the 2018 AFL draft, admitted it had been on his mind.
"It's a huge honour (and) something I have been working pretty hard for," he said.
"I'd always like to think I'm a shot at winning it.
"But there's internal goals that I'm focusing on what I want to achieve.
"If I win it at the end of the year, that'd be great, but if I don't, I just want to know internally I've done all I can to get better."
Few players have adapted to the AFL so seamlessly.
Walsh is the first player since Mark Bairstow in 1987 to collect at least 24 touches in their first four games.
If he can repeat the act this weekend against Western Bulldogs, he'll be the first player to do so in their first five games of VFL or AFL football.
But Walsh would rather sing the club song for the first time.
He was just 10 seconds away from his debut rendition on Sunday before a last-gasp goal saw Gold Coast earn a two-point victory.
The latest loss leaves Carlton at 0-4 and Walsh says Blues players are taking it on themselves to improve that streak, relieving coach Brendon Bolton of pressure.
"We have the mindset that we can beat teams with our midfield contest work ... it's up to us to keep building that chemistry," he said.
"We watched (the last minutes of the Suns game) back and there's a lot of good lessons to take out of that.
"We're still a united group and there's a lot of positivity.
"Take it as great feedback, move into the week, hit it head on and I'm sure we'll give it a good crack against the Doggies."
Australian Associated Press
