Robert Walls’ significant contributions to Carlton, Brisbane and the great Australian game will be acknowledged with a medal struck in his honour.
The inaugural Robert Walls Medal will be presented to the player adjudged Best On Ground when Carlton meets Brisbane in the Round 18 contest at Marvel Stadium on Thursday 10 July – as a mark of respect to Walls, who passed away at the age of 74 on May 15 this year.
Walls’ tenure as a player and coach across four clubs, and as a respected commentator across television, radio and print, spanned some six decades.
It was at Carlton that the AFL Life Member and Australian Football Hall of Fame inductee savoured his greatest individual and collective footballing moments – and at the now-defunct Fitzroy and later Brisbane that he earned the respect of his players as a teacher and football innovator.
Born in the Central Victorian goldfields town of Dunolly, but raised in the inner-city northern suburb of Brunswick, Walls was residentially tied to Carlton through its metropolitan zone and in the summer of 1966, on the strength of some creditable performances for Coburg Amateurs, the tall, gangly 15 year-old accepted an invitation to train and peddled his pushbike to Princes Park.
At Carlton, Walls was part of the drought-breaking Grand Final victory over Essendon in 1968, the incredible come-from-behind Grand Final triumph over Collingwood in 1970, and the winning Grand Final shootout with Richmond in 1972. He would represent Carlton in the old dark Navy Blues in 218 matches through 12 seasons to 1978 – during which time he would lead the team as captain and twice earn the club’s goalkicking honours - and later round out his on-field career with Fitzroy in 41 matches through three seasons until the end of 1980.
Walls was 27 and in his prime as a senior League footballer at the time he requested a change of scenery. He significantly contributed to the Lions’s fortunes in those ensuing 41 matches, pairing with Bernie Quinlan in their front half – and when a chronic knee condition put paid to his on-field career he accepted the role of coach. As an acknowledged coaching innovator (he famously concocted the dispersing player huddle to transition the ball quickly from the kick-in), Walls commandeered Fitzroy to the finals in three of his five years at the helm. In that time Walls mentored the likes of Paul Roos, Gary Pert, Scott Clayton and Richard Osborne, all of whom accredit Walls for positively impacting on them as both players and people.
In late 1985, Walls returned to Princes Park as Senior Coach, in a swap which saw Carlton coach David Parkin replace him in the role at Fitzroy – just as the Blues completed a recruiting coup with the signings of Craig Bradley, Jon Dorotich, Peter Motley and Stephen Kernahan.
As Carlton coach, Walls commandeered Kernahan and his players to Carlton’s penultimate premiership, when they prevailed in the heat against Hawthorn on Grand Final day 1987 – and his courage of conviction in assigning David Rhys-Jones with the match-winning task of negating Dermott Brereton was widely lauded.
In 1991, Walls committed to the development of the game in the nation’s north, when he replaced Norm Dare as Senior Coach of the then Brisbane Bears. Under Walls’ watch, Brisbane would accrue just 30 wins and a draw from 109 outings, but Walls’s last game in charge coincided with Brisbane’s first final, ironically the 1995 eliminator involving the eventual Premiers Carlton – and the on-field juggernaut Brisbane later became is chiefly accredited to his early influence.
The Robert Walls Medal serves to perpetuate the memory of a man recognised in his lifetime as a Legend of the Carlton Hall of Fame, and Member of both the Brisbane (incorporating Fitzroy) and Australian Football Halls.
Carlton President Rob Priestley said the best afield medal was a fitting acknowledgement of a person who has contributed so much to the game and especially to both clubs.
“In regard to football, Robert was revered as a hard man, with high standards who demanded the absolute best out of those around him because he always demanded that of himself,” Priestley said.
“Therefore, to have the player judged best on ground receive a medal named in his honour is so fitting for the football person he was and the immortal reputation he earned across six decades.
“Robert’s legacy means so much to so many people, as a Carlton legend, premiership player and coach, a key Fitzroy figure and a pioneer for football in Queensland – and we are delighted he will be acknowledged with the Robert Walls Medal.”
