| Robert Walls |
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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. Fitzroy 41 games, 77 goals COACHING CAREER Fitzroy Carlton 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. 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. Richmond MEDIA CAREER 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 ''. 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 .
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