He was his normal unbiased, straight-shooting, insightful self, making viewers feel like they were part of the action.

Except internally he wasn’t. He was barracking hard for the Lions. For ‘his boys’.

The Lions were on a 15-game winning streak but were underdogs against the defending premiers. On a stinking hot day they went to halftime 14 points down before a 6-2 to 1-2 third quarter turned the game completely. They won by 26 points.

Privately, Walls was delighted. Because no less than 10 members of the side - captain Michael Voss, Jason Akermanis, Marcus Ashcroft, Shaun Hart, Clark Keating, Nigel Lappin, Justin Leppitsch, Craig McRae, Chris Scott and Darryl White – began their AFL career under him during the days of the Brisbane Bears.

He was a father figure. He taught them how to survive in the ever-challenging world of AFL football. And how to thrive. A hard football man who would give them a kick in the butt if they warranted it, or a cuddle if they needed it. They loved him.

Voss labelled Walls ‘the grandfather of the club’s success’. And so he was. Critical in the early stages of the club’s transformation from the days of the ‘Bad News Bears’ at Carrara to arguably the best team in football history after they completed a 2001-02-03 flag hat-trick.

It was a sad day, then, on 15 May 2025 when a 74-year-old passed away following a long battle with cancer, sounding the final siren on one of the game’s great careers.

He was a rarity – a great of Fitzroy and a great of the Brisbane Bears – and was inducted into the Brisbane Lions Hall of Fame in 2019.

On 2 May 2026, just short of the first anniversary of his passing, Walls took his rightful place in the club’s history when he was elevated to Hall of Fame Legend status, joining Kevin Murray, Haydn Bunton, Garry Wilson, Michael Voss, Simon Black and Jonathan Brown.

It was an honour that reflected his standing not just in the ‘Lions family’ but the game overall. He became just the third person in history after David Parkin and Allan Jeans to be a Hall of Fame Legend at not one but two clubs. Carlton and Brisbane.

It was due recognition of a career that began in suburban Brunswick, included time with the Coburg Amateurs, and spanned almost 60 years as an AFL player, coach and media commentator and columnist.

Skillful and athletic, combative and fearless, he played 218 games and kicked 367 goals with Carlton from 1967-78 after debuting as a 16-year-old schoolboy and played 41 games for 77 goals with Fitzroy from 1978-80. A true great in one of the toughest positions at centre half forward.

He played more games and kicked more goals in jumper #42 than any player in history.

He coached for 16 years in the AFL - 115 games at Fitzroy (1981-85), 84 games at Carlton (1986-89), 109 games at Brisbane (1991-95) and 39 games at Richmond (1996-97). And, in a fitting farewell, he coached Victoria in the Big V’s last non-charity State representative game in 1999.

He was Carlton vice-captain for five years and captain in 1977-78, won three premierships at the club as a player in 1968-70-72 and a fourth as coach in 1987. He was acclaimed ‘man of the match’ in the 1972 Grand Final after kicking six goals in a win over Richmond – the equivalent at the time of the Norm Smith Medal, introduced in 1979.

Inducted into the Carlton Hall of Fame in 1990 and named in the Carlton Team of the Century in 2000, he joined the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2006 and was made a Carlton Hall of Fame Legend in 2011.  

He was the 12^th person to play and/or coach 500 AFL games, and as the Lions pay this special tribute to the great man his career total of 606 games sits 11^th all-time.

Post-football Walls was among the very best media performers, joining The Age in 1998 as an insightful and entertaining columnist. He would not contemplate a ‘ghost writer’, as most in his position did, and wrote his own stuff for 11 years. Beautifully so.

Years later he wrote a book. ‘Gus & Wallsy’s French Revelation’ it was called, and it told the story of his travels through France through the eyes of his dog. Classic Wallsy.

He also joined the television industry in 1998, and for more than 20 years provided expert commentary with Seven, Ten and Fox Footy, and later 3AW and SEN radio. And added a sometimes brutal and always thoughtful touch to magazine shows ‘Talking Footy’ and ‘On the Couch’. And to ‘Crunch Time’ and ‘One Week at a Time’. And he was an All-Australian selector.

Father to David, Rebecca and Daniel, and grandfather of seven, he lost wife Erin, the love of his life, to lung cancer in 2006. And in 2023 he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a rare and aggressive blood cancer.

He spent more than 250 nights in hospital before a period of remission, but when the cancer returned he’d had enough. He used Victoria’s voluntary assisted dying legislation to ‘kick his last goal’ surrounded by family and his adoring dog ‘Lily’ in his apartment overlooking the MCG.

Such had been his impact on football that ‘Fox Footy’ broadcast an hour-long special as friends and colleagues from all parts of the industry paid tribute.

AFL Chief Executive Andrew Dillon said at the time: “Robert Walls was a straight talker with a very clear idea on how the game should be played, and the requirements to be successful at the top level. He was loved by his teammates and the players he led at senior level.

“The game was better for Robert being in our ranks and as a competition we want to call our his contribution as coach in the early days of the Brisbane Bears … Footy in Queensland is absolutely flying these days, and we have never forgotten that Robert did the hard yards there when others didn’t want to risk their reputations,” Dillon said.

Walls was a Lions man for eight years, crossing from Carlton to Fitzroy midway through the 1978 season, and retired when struck down by knee problems in 1980. So highly was he regarded he went straight into the top job in 1981, replacing club favourite Bill Stephen as coach and taking the club to its best era since the 1944 premiership.

He debuted a generation of Fitzroy greats, including Matt Rendell, Scott Clayton, Paul Roos, Gary Pert and Richard Osborne, and Queenslander Scott McIvor. He took them to the finals in 1981-83-84  and built the team which made the club’s last finals appearance in 1986 under David Parkin after the coaching masters had swapped jobs.

Ironically, Walls’ time at Carlton ended after his side suffered a shock three-point loss to the Bears at Princes Park in Round 10 1989, when Brad Hardie kicked nine goals.

It was as if it was meant to be. Twelve months later in 1991 he took charge of the Bears, and with a new-look administration and commitment to youth turned a battling club based on the Gold Coast into a competitive and respected outfit which called ‘The Gabba’ home.

In Round 16 1995 Walls coached the Bears to the greatest win in club history after mid-week confirming his fifth year in Queensland would be his last. From 45 points down at three-quarter time against Hawthorn at the Gabba they won by seven – the biggest final quarter turnround in history. It was a mark that stood for 30 years until bettered by one point by StKilda in 2025.

Sitting 12^th of a 14-team ladder at Round 15 1995 with a 4-11 record before the ‘Great Gabba Escape’ against Hawthorn they won six of their last seven games to sneak into the finals. The club’s first final was Walls’ last game in charge. 

It was 8^th v 1^st in the qualifying final after Carlton had finished four games clear on top of the ladder. The underdogs took it right up to the powerhouse Blues, going down by 13 points. And when Carlton beat North by 62 points in the preliminary final and Geelong by 61 points in the grand final the Bears were acclaimed the #2 team in football. Walls’ job was done.

He remained close to his players from Brisbane, Fitzroy and Carlton, and was a friend and private confidante to many. He cared not just about their football but about their family and their well-being. He was a great man. A Legend. And now a Legend twice over.