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. is the 208th day of the year (209th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... High marking is a key skill and spectator attribute of Aussie Rules Precise field and goal kicking using the oval shaped ball is the key skill in Aussie Rules Football Australian rules football, also known as Australian football, Aussie rules, or simply football or footy is a code of football... The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coaches and administrators. ...

Playing career

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. Heidelberg West is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ... Carlton Football Club, nicknamed The Blues, is the sixth oldest Australian rules football club and the third oldest club in the Australian Football League. ... In Australian rules football, the centre half-forward is a position on the half-forward line of a football field. ...

Fitzroy

41 games, 77 goals

Coaching career

Fitzroy

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. David Parkin (born February 03, 1957) is the founder of thefansforum. ... Stephen Kernahan is an Australian footballer best known for his career with Carlton and Glenelg in the 1980s and 1990s. ... {{Infobox afl player/{{{image}}}|image name={{{image name}}}|name=Craig Bradley}} Craig Braddles Bradley (born October 23, 1963) is a former South Australian Australian rules footballer and first class cricketer, who holds the record for senior Australian football games played. ... Played for the Sturt Football Club from 1982-1985. ...

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. The Brisbane Bears Football Club was the first Queensland-based club in the Victorian Football League. ...

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. The Brisbane Bears Football Club was the first Queensland-based club in the Victorian Football League. ... Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed The Hawks, are an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League (AFL). ... VFL/AFL is the term used to refer to the competition established in 1897, which was originally known as the Victorian Football League. ...

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. The McIntyre Final Eight System was devised by Ken McIntyre in addition to the McIntyre Four, Five and Six systems. ... The current AFL finals system was devised by the Australian Football League in 2000 as its end-of-season championship play-off tournament. ... Carlton Football Club, nicknamed The Blues, is the sixth oldest Australian rules football club and the third oldest club in the Australian Football League. ... AFL Logo This page is a chronological listing of Australian Football League premiers. ...

Richmond

The Richmond Football Club appointed Walls as senior coach for the 1996 season. He was sacked after a 137 point defeat by the Adelaide Crows in Round 17, 1997.

Post-football career

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. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Seven Network is an Australian television network, owned by the Seven Media Group. ... This article is about the national league in Australian rules football. ... Malcolm Blight AM (born 16 February 1950), is a former Australian rules football player who had a Hall of Fame career with the North Melbourne Football Club. ... Talking Footy was an Australian rules football chat show appearing on the Seven Network. ...

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. Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Network Ten, or Channel Ten, is one of Australias three commercial television networks, available in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth in Australia. ... Fox Footy Channel is a channel exclusively dedicated to Australian rules football, in particular the AFL. The channel was created after the Foxtel consortium won the rights to the AFL; formerly a key feature of Optus Vision programming. ... Fox Footy Channel is a channel exclusively dedicated to Australian rules football, in particular the AFL. The channel was created after the Foxtel consortium won the rights to the AFL; formerly a key feature of Optus Vision programming. ... Talking Footy was an Australian rules football chat show appearing on the Seven Network. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... 3AW is a radio station in Melbourne, Australia on 693KHz AM. It began transmission in February 1932 as Melbournes fifth commercial radio station. ...

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.-1... Paul Roos Paul Roos is a player and coach in the Australian Football League. ... This is a page about the national league in Australian Rules Football. ...

Walls is also noted to have a massive hatred of the Geelong Football Club and goes out of his way to criticize this team at any opportunity. This hatred is probably due to Geelong's thrashing of his then coached Richmond side in a 1996 Preliminary Final or because Geelong beat his Brisbane Bears side (which Walls was coaching at the time) by over 100 points three times in a row (twice in the 1991 season and once in 1992 season) including Geelong scoring an AFL/VFL record score of 37.17.239 at Carrara and winning by 164 points in Round 7, 1992. Walls was also rejected as a possible Geelong coach and has had the taste of sour grapes in his mouth ever since. The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is an Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League with a rich history. ... Richmond refers to various place names, schools and universities, people, and other uses around the world. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... The Brisbane Bears Football Club was the first Queensland-based club in the Victorian Football League. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ... Carrara is a city in the Massa Carrara province of Tuscany, Italy, famous for the white or blue-gray marble quarried there. ... - - Nickname: City by the Bay Geography Area: 1,240 km² Coordinates: Time Zone UTC +10:00 Population (2003) 200,067 Among Australian cities: Density: persons/km² Political Mayor: Shane Dowling Governing body: City of Greater Geelong Geelong is a port city of 200,067 people (2003 census) located on Corio... The term sour grapes refers to the denial of ones desire for something that one fails to acquire. ...

Walls' bias against the Essendon Football Club is also well documented and has long been known to draw the ire of Essendon supporters. Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club that is part of the Australian Football League. ...

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. The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coaches and administrators. ... is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...

External links

• Robert Walls Profile in Blueseum