{"id":827340,"date":"2026-07-27T17:13:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T17:13:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/827340\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T17:13:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T17:13:19","slug":"afl-2026-carlton-small-forward-talor-byrne-wins-round-20-rising-star-nomination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/827340\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL 2026: Carlton small forward Talor Byrne wins Round 20 Rising Star nomination"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a no-nonsense, country simplicity to Carlton\u2019s breakout talent.<\/p>\n

Talor Byrne has earned this week\u2019s Rising Star nomination for his three-goal performance against Gold Coast Suns at Marvel Stadium on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Byrne has sparked a Carlton forward line that started this year flat, clunky and unconnected.<\/p>\n

But the small forward, true to form, isn\u2019t one for individual compliments or accomplishments.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t called anyone yet, I haven\u2019t told anyone yet. I should probably tell them soon,\u201d Byrne said with a laugh when asked who he shared his nomination news with first.<\/p>\n

Byrne plays with the enthusiasm and flair of a young player relishing every minute at AFL level.<\/p>\n

But before he was drafted, Byrne needed to divert back to local footy to rediscover that passion for the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess, in my bottom age year I was sort of not sure if I wanted to do it and, I guess, in the back end of the year played some alright footy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the pre-season I just had to lock in and give it a red-hot crack and I guess that\u2019s why I am here now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t playing very good footy (at the end of my bottom age year), so I was just doubting myself sort of thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was still playing a bit of footy at the (GWV) Rebels but also, when I wasn\u2019t going so well, I played for my local club.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy local coach was unreal for me, Chris McLaren, he sort of just helped me along there and just made me enjoy my footy again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Byrne was selected by Carlton at pick 45 of last year\u2019s national draft and moved in with star midfielder Sam Walsh.<\/p>\n

Walsh was a landlord, teammate, mentor, friend and the beneficiary of a departing gift.<\/p>\n

\u201cI moved in with (Walsh), he was great showing me the ropes, getting to know everyone and even him as a person \u2013 I didn\u2019t really know him,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had me for a lot longer than he probably expected (because) it took us a bit longer to find a house. He was great for the start of my career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got him a big slab (of steaks) one day just to say thanks for having me, from my cousin, he works at Midfield Meats.\u201d<\/p>\n

Byrne now lives with fellow young Blues Billy Wilson, Flynn Young and Harry Dean.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d put Young at the top of the housemate leaderboard, though it\u2019s Dean who shares his late-night bursts of energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all take (cooking and cleaning) in turns, whether some of us are very good at it or not,\u201d Byrne said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d say Flynn Young is the best one, he cooks and loves going in his little cleaning modes but the rest of us aren\u2019t great.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe and Deany, I don\u2019t know what\u2019s the go with us, at night-time we just somehow find another gear and start running around to burn a bit of energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat puts us to sleep, so that\u2019s pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally published as AFL 2026: Carlton small forward Talor Byrne wins Round 20 Rising Star nomination<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s a no-nonsense, country simplicity to Carlton\u2019s breakout talent. Talor Byrne has earned this week\u2019s Rising Star nomination…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":827341,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[400540,383309,400523,400544,400518,400519,376963,400524,400546,380044,400520,394035,376730,400529,381856,400560,400063,638,231397,400562,400536,64,63,55,639,355092,6856,400534,400526,400530,50885,4257,2572,382410,1635,400538,400552,400532,9116,13148,1868,9130,400550,400548,400543,400527,400549,400542,400559,45755,65188,16691,400539,31156,400521,400554,311482,400537,400541,400535,400517,43961,35062,400528,307881,400551,70128,400561,400531,400516,400558,85,7805,268293,14478,59131,400557,391546,297820,400547,215379,400556,377453,74713,400533,400553,400525,378229,400295,400555,376950,377466,400545,378969,199184,364611,6618,168963,400522,113709,2969],"class_list":["post-827340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-s-breakout-talent","tag-s-future","tag-s-national-draft","tag-s-rising-star-nomination","tag-s-game-against-gcbyrne","tag-a-big-slab","tag-a-bit","tag-a-carlton-forward-line","tag-a-departing-gift","tag-a-house","tag-a-landlord","tag-a-laugh","tag-a-lot","tag-a-no-nonsense","tag-a-person","tag-a-red-hot-crack","tag-a-young-player","tag-afl","tag-afl-2026","tag-afl-level-but","tag-another-gear","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-byrne","tag-carlton","tag-carlton-small-forward","tag-chris-mclaren","tag-country-simplicity","tag-dean","tag-electric","tag-energy","tag-every-minute","tag-fans","tag-fellow-young-blues-billy-wilson","tag-first-byrne-plays","tag-flynn-young","tag-footy","tag-form","tag-friend","tag-gold-coast-suns","tag-gwv","tag-harry-dean-he","tag-his-late-night-bursts","tag-his-little-cleaning-modes","tag-his-nomination-news","tag-his-three-goal-performance","tag-individual-compliments-or-accomplishments","tag-last-year","tag-local-footy","tag-marvel-stadium","tag-me-and-deany","tag-mentor","tag-midfield-meats","tag-my-bottom-age-year","tag-my-career","tag-my-cousin","tag-my-footy","tag-my-local-club","tag-my-local-coach","tag-newswire-sport","tag-night","tag-old-school-country-simplicity-and-excitement","tag-one-day","tag-pick-45","tag-rebels","tag-round-20-rising-star-nomination","tag-sam-walsh-walsh","tag-saturday-byrne","tag-some-alright-footy","tag-sports","tag-star-midfielder","tag-steaks","tag-talor-byrne","tag-teammate","tag-that-passion","tag-the-back-end","tag-the-beneficiary","tag-the-best-one","tag-the-end","tag-the-enthusiasm-and-flair","tag-the-field","tag-the-game","tag-the-go","tag-the-housemate-leaderboard","tag-the-pre-season","tag-the-rest","tag-the-ropes","tag-the-small-forward","tag-the-start","tag-the-top","tag-the-unassuming-blue","tag-the-year","tag-this-week","tag-this-year","tag-time","tag-turns","tag-very-good-footy","tag-walsh","tag-young"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=827340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/827341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=827340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=827340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=827340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}