Robert Walls, notional ‘godfather’ to Brisbane’s great team of 2001-02-03, always said there was no opponent he couldn’t beat. But finally he has met his match. 

After 14 years as an AFL player, 16 years as a coach, 25 years as a commentator and a lifetime as a self-proclaimed ‘fan’, the 74-year-old passed away late yesterday.

Having battled cancer for more than two years, he did it his way. He chose to end a fight that had seen him spend more than 250 nights in hospital in the past two years.

His son David, speaking on behalf of sister Rebecca and brother Daniel, confirmed the Carlton, Fitzroy and Brisbane great and grandfather to seven had passed away peacefully in his unit overlooking the MCG.

Having spent the last couple of weeks tidying up his affairs and catching up with family and close friends, he chose that over more and more hospital visits for treatment.

His massive contribution to football at Carlton, Fitzroy, Brisbane and Richmond, where he coached last in 1996-97, will be celebrated at the MCG in coming weeks.

A three-time premiership player at Carlton in 1968-70-72, a premiership coach at Carlton in 1987 and a member of the Carlton Team of the Century, Walls was a member of the AFL Hall of Fame, a legend in the Carlton Hall of Fame and a member of the Brisbane Hall of Fame (which incorporates Fitzroy).

Having played 259 games and coached 347 games, he ranks 11^th on the game’s all-time combined games list. In ascending order, ahead of him are Paul Roos (624), Rodney Eade (636), Allan Jeans (653), Norm Smith (662), Ron Barassi (719), David Parkin (729), Leigh Matthews (793), Jock McHale (876), Mick Malthouse (892) and Kevin Sheedy (929).

He is one of only five to have played and coached 250 games, sharing this honor with Roos, Eade, Matthews and Sheedy.

But to Brisbane fans Walls is the man who helped build what he rated the greatest team in football history … the Brisbane side that travelled interstate 35 times in three years and beat big Melbourne clubs Essendon and Collingwood (twice) in grand finals at the MCG to win the 2001-02-03 premierships.

He coached half the ’01 side that began the club’s extraordinary period of domination – captain Michael Voss, Jason Akermanis, Marcus Ashcroft, Shaun Hart, Clark Keating, Nigel Lappin. Alastair Lynch, Justin Leppitsch, Craig McRae, Chris Scott and Darryl White – and was always a revered figure and confidante to many.

Walls’ connection to the Lions of 2025 was three-fold. He played his last 41 games at Fitzroy from 1978-80 after a mid-season switch from Carlton, coached Fitzroy in 110 games from 1981-85, and coached Brisbane in 109 games from 1991-95.

He took charge of a side that had collected the 1990 wooden-spoon after a 4-18 campaign under Norm Dare in which they’d beaten the sides that finished 10^th-11^th-12^th-13^th on the 14-team ladder – all at their then Carrara headquarters.

Dare, who had played 72 games with Fitzroy from 1968-74 and in 1977, had himself taken charge of a Brisbane club in turmoil following the sacking of inaugural coach Peter Knights at Round 16 1989 and a decision that caretaker coach Paul Feltham was not the man to take the club forward.

But as the club desperately searched for answers Dare volunteered to stand down and even made the first call to Walls regarding a possible move north.

It came five weeks before the end of the 1990 season as Walls enjoyed what would be his only year off from 1967-97.

“How about that?” said Walls later, having worked with Dare at Fitzroy. “Getting a call from a League coach asking if you would be interesting in coaching his side the following year. I bet that hasn’t happened too often but Norm is that sort of bloke.

“He asked me to have a think about it but it didn’t require a great deal of thought on my part. I’ve always been keen on the concept of a national competition and besides, I wanted to coach a League side again. This was the perfect opportunity.”

The Bears ‘saviour’ was going to be Walls or David Parkin, who four years earlier had rejected the inaugural Bears coaching job before it was given to Peter Knights, and at the time had been out of football after a 1986-88 three-year stint at Fitzroy had in 1988.

Walls, who had been narrowly beaten by Mick Malthouse for the 1990 West Coast coaching job, was appointed Bears coach on 11 September 1990 – the same day two separate warrants were issued in the Brisbane District Court and the Queensland Supreme Court for the arrest of one-time Bears owner Christopher Skase.

As Walls would say later: “Going to Brisbane was one of the best things I did, for us as a family and me as a football coach. I look back on my five years in Queensland with a lot of satisfaction. I really enjoyed it.

“In Melbourne I was involved with two clubs (Fitzroy and Carlton) who were at different ends of the spectrum. Carlton had money, resources and plenty of people who wanted to be part of it. I was very much a disciplinarian coach.

“Fitzroy people battled for every dollar. There, I was very much a teaching coach. I was fortunate to see football from both sides of things. And I much prefer being a teaching coach. The Bears were similar to Fitzroy – both finished on the bottom of the ladder and I had only one way to go. The people at the Bears were genuine and that counts for a lot in football,” he said.

Walls counted too. Enormously. His last game in charge of the Bears was the club’s first final – the 1995 elimination final against Carlton – and confirmation that success wasn’t too far away.

They’d stumbled into eighth spot with a 10-12 record and in the first week of the finals were drawn to Carlton, who at 20-2 had claimed the minor premiership four wins ahead of second-placed Geelong. From 22 points down at quarter time the Bears closed to within six points at three-quarter time before losing by 13 points.

Carlton later beat North Melbourne by 65 points in the preliminary final and Geelong by 61 points in the grand final, leaving Brisbane fans to wonder what might have happened had it not been 1 v 8 in the first week of finals.

Regardless, the seeds had been sewn, and the long-time ‘Bad News Bears’ were on the move. Despite taking charge of Richmond in 1996 after moving back to Melbourne, Walls followed closely and fondly the progress of his former club.

After he was sacked by the Tigers at Round 17 1997, ending his on-field involvement with the AFL, he became a media commentator. Television, radio and newspapers. A much-admired and respected voice. Always insightful, sometimes critical and occasionally a little blunt … like ‘a baseball bat’, as colleagues noted.

Voss, Brisbane triple premiership captain and now Carlton coach, said of his long-time mentor: “Wallsy had a massive influence not just on me but so many Brisbane players and played a key role in the formation of the 2001-02-03 premiership sides.

“He was tough and fiercely loyal. He expected people to meet his high standards of professionalism and demanded a strong work ethic. His respect was hard-earned, but you always knew he had your back. Without his grounding, guidance and mentorship in the toughest of times the Brisbane journey doesn’t begin.”

Michael McLean, dual Brisbane club champion under Walls and the senior statesman of the AFL’s indigenous playing group, said: “He was a great football man and an even better person .. my coach, my mentor and my friend … he saved my career. He was tough and sometimes ruthless and made no apologies for that, but he developed so many champions of the game. And he was a great family man .. loved his children and grandchildren like nothing else.”

Stephen Kernahan, his premiership captain at Carlton, said: “”He was ahead of his time as a coach and he made his players better – as footballers and people. He was hard but everyone loved him. It’s a special thing for a coach to become one of your best mates but that was Wallsy. I’ll miss him so much.”

A member of the Carlton Team of the Century and the AFL, Carlton Brisbane Hall of Fame, and Carlton captain in 1977-78, he played 218 games at Carlton (1967-78) and 41 games at Fitzroy (1978-80), with 20 finals and four grand finals, and won premierships in 1968-70-72. He was proclaimed ‘player of the match’ in ’72 after kicking six goals three years before the introduction of the Norm Smith Medal.

He coached 347 games – 115 at Fitzroy (1981-85), 84 at Carlton (1986-89), 109 at Brisbane (1991-95) and 39 at Richmond (1996-97) – and won the flag with Carlton in ’87.

SEVEN SPECIAL THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT ROBERT WALLS

The Ultra-Elite

Only 11 people in AFL history have played and coached a total of 600 games. Walls is #11 at 606. Ahead of him are Paul Roos (624), Rodney Eade (636), Allan Jeans (653), Norm Smith (662), Ron Barassi (719), David Parkin (729), Leigh Matthews (793), Jock McHale (876), Mick Malthouse (892) and Kevin Sheedy (929). Only five people have had 250 games or more as a player and coach - Walls, Roos, Eade, Matthews and Sheedy.

Coaching Rivals

Ranked 19^th on the AFL ‘games coached’ list with a 162-2-183 record from 347 games, Walls locked horns with 55 opposition coaches. Most often he matched wits with Kevin Sheedy (28), David Parkin (27), John Northey (21), Allan Jeans (21), Mick Malthouse (19), Tom Hafey (17) and Ron Barassi (15). Ironically, he had most wins against the man who coached him in his first AFL game – Barassi (12).

Jumper Numbers

He played more games and kicked more goals in jumper #42 than any other player in history. His 218 games in #42 is under threat from Adam Saad, who played his 204^th game in #42 last weekend. Liam Picken (198), Darren Millane (147) and Nathan Lovett-Murray (145) complete the top five, but Walls’ 367 goals in #42 will never be beaten. After him it’s Picken (87), Millane (78), Lovett-Murray (73) and Craig Callaghan (63). Walls played his 41 games at Fitzroy in #9.

AFL Debut at 16

Just 16 years 275 days old when he debuted with Carlton against Hawthorn at Princes Park in Round 2 1967, the Coburg High School student was younger in his first game than all but 39 players of 13,226 players in AFL history. He had six disposals and kicked 2-3 on debut as a 21-year-old from Hobart playing his first game Hawthorn had 10 disposals and kicked 4-1 in a score of 6-8. Peter Hudson.

‘Walls Warriors’

Among 265 players he coached, 1981 Brownlow Medallist Bernie Quinlan was statistically the best. He played most games under Walls (114), kicked most goals (431) and polled most Brownlow votes (45), sharing the medal under Walls in 1981. And ranked third for possessions.

Marcus Ashcroft (104), Matt Rendell (102), Grant Lawrie (98), Mick Conlan (96), Richard Champion (94), Roger Merrett (91), Leon Harris and Les Parish (83), Stephen Kernahan and Michael McLean (82), Craig Bradley and Scott Clayton (81) and Paul Roos (80) were next on the games list, with Kernahan (217), Conlan (213), Merrett (187), Richardson (129), Wilson (128) next best for goals.

Second to Quinlan on the votes list under Walls, with less than half, were Bradley and Paul Meldrum (27), Jon Dorotich (26), Justin Madden (24), Roos and Richardson (22), Kernahan and McLean (21).

Quinlan also ranked third for possessions under Walls behind Marcus Ashcroft (2051) and Craig Bradley (1909) from Quinlan (1713) and ahead of Garry Wilson (1712), Michael McLean (1636), Les Parish (1630), Rendell (1546), Adrian Fletcher (1533), Leon Harris (1436) and Grant Lawrie (1408).

A notional ‘Walls Warriors’ side, made up of the 25 players who played most games under him, would look like this:-

B: Marcus Ashcroft (Bris), Gary Pert (Fitz), Richard Champion (Bris)
HB: Grant Lawrie (Fitz), Paul Roos (Fitz), Michael McLean (Bris)
C: Tom Alvin (Carl), Craig Bradley (Carl), Scott McIvor (Fitz/Bris)
HF: Mick Conlan (Fitz), Bernie Quinlan (Fitz-capt), Les Parish (Fitz)
F: Leon Harris (Fitz), Stephen Kernahan (Carl), Roger Merrett (Bris)
R: Matt Rendell (Fitz/Bris), Scott Clayton (Fitz), Garry Wilson (Fitz)
INT: Justin Madden (Carl), Leigh Carlson (Fitz), John Gastev (Bris), Matthew Kennedy (Bris), Martin Leslie (Bris), Jon Dorotich (Car), Laurie Serafini (Fitz).

Future Coaches

No less than 16 AFL coaches past and present played under Walls – Roger Merrett, Michael Voss, Chris Scott, Craig McRae, Nathan Buckley, Justin Leppitsch (Bris), Paul Roos, Ron Alexander, Bernie Quinlan, John Blakey, Ross Lyon, Grant Thomas (Fitz), Ken Sheldon, Peter Rohde (Carl), Matthew Knights and Mark Neeld (Rich).

Robert’s Rookies

Walls debuted 109 AFL players over 16 years – 35 at Fitzroy, 28 at Carlton, 35 at Brisbane and 11 at Richmond. It’s a star-studded list. A notional team of ‘Robert’s Rookies’ might be:-

B: Chris Scott (Bris), Gary Pert (Fitz), Jon Dorotich (Carl)
HB: Nigel Lappin (Bris), Paul Roos (Fitz), Darryl White (Bris)
C: Nathan Buckley (Bris), Craig Bradley (Carl), Adrian Gleeson (Carl)
HF: Joel Bowden (Rich), Stephen Kernahan (Carl), John Blakey (Fitz)
F: Craig McRae (Bris), Richard Osborne (Fitz), Jason Akermanis (Bris)
R: Matt Rendell (Fitz), Michael Voss (Bris), Fraser Brown (Carl)
INT: Justin Leppitsch (Bris), Matthew Clarke (Bris), Mil Hanna (Carl), Scott Clayton (Fitz), Doug Barwick (Fitz), Brad Pearce (Bris), Ben Holland (Rich).