Robert Walls (born 21 July 1950) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented and in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1960s and 1970s. In a playing career 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 was also a grade 6 teacher at Park Orchards Primary School at the time that he was head coach at Fitzroy.
Playing career
Carlton
Walls grew up in Brunswick, Victoria and was educated at Coburg High School. He initially supported like his mother, but ended up at because Brunswick at that time was 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 was not awarded the medal. He played 218 games and scored 367 goals for Carlton before obtaining a clearance to Fitzroy midway through the 1978 season.
Fitzroy
Walls made his Fitzroy debut in round 9 of the 1978 season, where he kicked 2 goals in a losing effort against Footscray. He went on to play 14 games in his first season at Fitzroy, kicking 24 goals. Walls' stint with the club was marred by a combination of poor form and injury issues. In Round 17 of the 1980 season against at Windy Hill, Walls injured his knee in the third quarter and had to be carried off. He announced his retirement shortly after the incident having played 41 games and kicked 77 goals for , taking his overall VFL tally to 259 games and 444 goals.
Coaching career
Fitzroy
After he retired as a player, Walls replaced Bill Stephen as senior coach of the Fitzroy in 1981. Walls first task was a major clean-out of older players who were clearly "past it" after the club's disappointing 1980 season, Walls lifted the Lions to their best era since winning a premiership in 1944. Walls would coach Fitzroy Football Club from 1981-1985 for 115 games (60 wins – 54 losses – 1 draw).
They improved from last in 1980 to fifth at the end of the home-and-away season in 1981, securing their finals berth with an upset win over Collingwood and then beating Essendon in the Elimination Final before failing by the narrowest of margins in the First Semi against the Magpies. 1982 was relatively disappointing due to a poor start, but with players like Gary Pert and Paul Roos from the club's recruiting zones and South Australian recruit Matt Rendell growing into stars, the Lions were back as a force at the end of the season. 1983 saw the Lions emerge after five rounds as favourites for the premiership and maintain that favouritism with a sensational win in a top-of-the-table clash with North Melbourne by 150 points with Rendell kicking eight goals besides destroying Gary Dempsey in the ruck. However, inevitable overconfidence saw the Lions lose form and finish fourth after losing two hard-fought finals.
1984, with injuries plaguing the club and its lack of depth apparent, was initially disappointing but a remarkable recovery saw them enter the five after the final round only to be crushed by Collingwood. In 1985, the Lions' financial crisis emerged to threaten their future and this, along with more injuries, caused them to drop to ninth with only seven wins and two losses to last-placed St Kilda. After this, Walls moved to his former club Carlton in a swap with David Parkin in a jointly announced agreement between Fitzroy Football Club and Carlton Football Club to swap senior coaches. Walls was then replaced by David Parkin as Fitzroy Football Club senior coach.