Robert Walls

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Robert Walls (born July 27, 1950) is a former premiership-winning Australian rules footballer and coach who now works primarily as a television commentator and newspaper columnist on the sport. On 22 June 2006 he was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

Contents 1 Playing career 1.1 Carlton 1.2 Fitzroy 2 Coaching career 2.1 Fitzroy 2.2 Carlton 2.3 Brisbane Bears 2.4 Richmond 3 Post-football career 3.1 Media 4 Honours 5 External links

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Carlton

Recruited from West Heidelberg, Walls debuted with the Carlton Football Club in 1967 at only 16 years of age. He attended Coburg High School and was used in a variety of roles, but most notably at centre half-forward. He played 218 games for 367 goals with Carlton.

[edit] Fitzroy

41 games, 77 goals

[edit] Coaching career

[edit] Fitzroy

[edit] Carlton

Walls joined Carlton from Fitzroy at the start of the 1986 season in a direct swap with David Parkin. Thanks in part to an influx of interstate recruits including Stephen Kernahan, Craig Bradley and peter Motley. he had immediate success, taking the side to a Grand Final in 1986 and a premiership in 1987.

The Blues made the finals again in 1988 but by mid-1989 they were struggling and Walls was sacked after the team lost a home match to the lowly Brisbane Bears.

[edit] Brisbane Bears

Walls coached the Brisbane Bears from 1991-1995. In his last season, 1995, he had been told after Round 15 that with 4 wins and 11 losses for the season, he would not be re-appointed for 1996. But a major turning point in the season for the Bears soon came. In Round 16, against Hawthorn, Brisbane trailed by 45 points at 3-quarter time and ended up winning by 7, which remains a VFL/AFL record for the biggest 3-quarter time deficit turned into a win.

From there, the Bears continued their run and won 6 of their next 7 games. They found themselves in eighth position, and qualifying for the finals, after being second-last just 7 weeks earlier. They faced Carlton, the top ranked side in week one of the finals, and went down by just 13 points, a monumental achievement considering Carlton won the next two weeks by more than 10 goals to claim the premiership. Despite this turnaround, a change of heart was not considered, and Walls moved to Richmond the following year to coach.

[edit] Richmond

[edit] Post-football career

[edit] Media

At the end of his coaching career, Walls was immediately in demand as a football commentator. He became a columnist for The Age in Melbourne (a role he continues to fill), and joined the Seven Network providing special comments during AFL matches. Later he replaced Malcolm Blight on the football discussion show Talking Footy.

When Seven lost the broadcast rights for AFL matches at the end of 2001, Walls was recruited by both Network Ten and the new AFL-dedicated Fox Footy pay television channel. He continues to work for both networks, providing special comments during match broadcasts for Ten and as a panellist on Fox Footy's Talking Footy imitator, On the Couch. He is also is a radio commentator on 3AW.

Walls has been involved in a feud with Sydney Swans coach and footballing legend Paul Roos, after Walls stated that "the Swans can't possibly win the AFL Premiership with Paul Roos' style of coaching". In 2005 the Sydney Swans went on to win the flag and Roos refused to accept Walls apology.

Roos is not the only one unhappy with Walls. There is also an online petition to have him sacked from his role as a special comments commentator on Channel 10.

[edit] Honours

In 2006, Walls was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame. His wife Erin, suffering from cancer, attended the dinner in one of her last public appearances before passing away on July 9, 2006.

[edit] External links

• Robert Walls Profile in Blueseum
• A petition to sack Robert Walls

Preceded by: Bill Stephen	Fitzroy FC coach 1981–1985	Succeeded by: David Parkin
Preceded by: David Parkin	Carlton FC coach 1986–1989	Succeeded by: Alex Jesaulenko
Preceded by: Norm Dare	Brisbane Bears coach 1991–1995	Succeeded by: John Northey
Preceded by: John Northey	Richmond FC coach 1996–1997	Succeeded by: Jeff Gieschen