Robert Walls
| Robert Walls | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Robert Walls | ||
| Nickname(s) | Wallsy | ||
| Date of birth | 21 July 1950 | ||
| Place of birth | Dunolly, Victoria | ||
| Original team(s) | Coburg (VAFA) | ||
| Height | 193 cm (6 ft 4 in) | ||
| Weight | 89 kg (196 lb) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre half-forward | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1967–1978 | Carlton | 218 (367) | |
| 1978–1980 | Fitzroy | 41 (77) | |
| Total | 259 (444) | ||
| Representative team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| Victoria | 4 (?) | ||
| Coaching career3 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (W–L–D) | |
| 1981–1985 | Fitzroy | 115 (60–54–1) | |
| 1986–1989 | Carlton | 84 (55–29–0) | |
| 1991–1995 | Brisbane Bears | 109 (30–78–1) | |
| 1996–1997 | Richmond | 39 (17–22–0) | |
| 1999 | Victoria | 1 (1–0–0) | |
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1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1980.
3 Coaching statistics correct as of 1997.
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| Career highlights | |||
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Playing
Coaching
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| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
Playing
Coaching
Robert Walls (born 21 July 1950) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented Carlton and Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1960s and 1970s. In a playing carer that spanned three decades Robert played a combined 259 games and kicked a total of 444 goals. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s he continued to coach in the VFL/AFL for a total of 347 games across four different clubs. As a coach, his greatest achievement came in 1987 when he coached Carlton to the 1987 VFL premiership, the same club he won premierships with as player in 1968, 1970 and 1972. After his coaching career ended, Walls became involved in the AFL media as a commentator and columnist.
Walls grew up in Brunswick, Victoria and was educated at Coburg High School. He initially supported Essendon like his mother, but ended up at Carlton because Brunswick at that time part of Carlton's recruiting zone. He was recruited from Coburg Amateurs by the Carlton Football Club and made his senior VFL debut with them as a tall, skinny 16-year-old on 22 April 1967 against Hawthorn at Princes Park. He gave a sign of things to come when he scored a goal with his first kick. Walls would go on to play in three premierships with Carlton – in 1968, 1970 and 1972. He was judged Man of the Match in the 1972 VFL Grand Final when he kicked six goals against arch-rivals Richmond in a masterful display. As the Norm Smith Medal was not awarded until the 1979 VFL Grand Final, Robert did not received the medal. He played 218 games and scored 367 goals for Carlton before obtaining a clearance to Fitzroy midway through the 1978 season.
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