It was the mouthguard that had the footy world talking and now the true story behind Sam Walsh’s accessory can be revealed.
Walsh, the 23-year-old superstar from Cobden in southwest Victoria, surprised many when a world-renowned word was spotted on his mouthguard on Friday night.
The word “Dior” is printed in black writing on the white protective piece in the style of the luxury fashion brand’s logo.
Watch every match of The 2023 Toyota AFL Finals Series before the Grand Final Live & Ad-Break Free During Play on Kayo Sports. Join now and start streaming instantly >
A news.com.au search for more examples of Christian Dior-branded mouthguards yielded zero results and the reason behind that has now been confirmed by the AFL club.
“It is just a print on the mouthguard,” a club spokesperson confirmed.
“And he has been wearing it for the last three months.”
Walsh is emerging as the midfield superstar fans have been expecting ever since he was chosen with the first pick in the 2018 AFL draft.
In the Blues’ extraordinary finals run, the first post-season action of Walsh’s career, he is showing he is made for September football.
Some players shy away from the spotlight of cutthroat finals, others relish it, and Walsh is clearly among the latter.
One of the Blues’ best in the week one win over Sydney with 28 disposals and six tackles, Walsh took his game to a new level in Carlton’s comeback victory over the Demons on Friday night that kept their premiership hopes alive.
A final stat line of 34 possessions, a whopping 618 metres gained, eight tackles, six marks, two goals and a game-high 140 AFL fantasy points put the midfielder head and shoulders above every other player on the ground.
Yet anyone who has been watching Walsh’s career unfold wouldn’t be that shocked by his emergence in the finals.
What would have surprised some, however, was the small detail he revealed when he celebrated kicking each of his two goals for the match.
For a footballer who grew up in the small town of Cobden and also spent time in Darwin and Ocean Grove on the Bellarine Peninsula, fashion labels surely wouldn’t be the first image that springs to mind.
But when Walsh opened his mouth and raised a fist in celebration, that clear word was there for all to see.
Not surprisingly, there were some curious reactions on social media.
“Is that....a Dior mouthguard?” sports journalist Marnie Vinall wrote on Twitter.
“He’s so cool,” was one reply.
“No he’s not” replied another, with a series of crying laughing emojis, showing you can’t please everybody.
Doing a search online for Dior mouth guards produced very few results, with the Carlton statement confirming it is one-of-a-kind and not a new range.
As noted in our original report, it would have been an odd addition to its standard line of clothes, shoes and cosmetics.
The closest we could find to Walsh’s statement piece was another luxury brand mouth guard, Balenciaga, worn by fashion trendsetter Ye, formerly Kanye West, at the 2023 Paris Fashion Week.
More Coverage
While many were impressed by Walsh’s choice of mouth protection, of course you also get replies from those that really don’t care, which always begs the question - why comment?
Still, we’ll applaud the creativity at least from user flibble24 on Reddit.
“And (Sam) Docherty sleeps nude in an oxygen tent. Why should we care?”
Read related topics:MelbournencG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7HWrGWcp51jrrZ70qmmq6xflrOte8WapaxlmaN6pbXSm5yloZWberDCxKtkrJmdYsSiuNKhZKanpam1qMHAq5tmnJWprqq4jKKlZpuRp7m1u82sZLChnmK8t7HRZpuepZ%2BjwHC6xLCqZqukpL%2B6e5RuaW5ulZizpIDDb5lubWdrgKOCkG6baZphZX50rsBx