Unfortunately, the Australian sporting world woke up to the devastating news that Adelaide Crows head coach Phil Walsh was found dead in his home in the early hours of this morning. This is a deeply saddening event and Sports Banter would like to give tribute to a man that has given so much to the game of Australian Rules Football.
The career of Phil Walsh all began in 1983 in which he made his long awaited VFL debut for the Collingwood Magpies at 23 years of age. Phil was a much loved player in his time at the Magpies who earned the respect of many. Playing on the wing, he was well known for his quick, clean, and stylish brand of footy which saw him receive the 1983 recruit of the year award (similar to that of the NAB Rising Star Award). Not only that, Walsh also earned himself Collingwood’s best first year player award in the same year. After just his first year of football, he already made a name for himself as one of the best players in the competition.
After playing all 22 games for Collingwood in the 1983 season, kicking nine goals from the wing in the prestigious #41 guernsey, Walsh shocked the sporting world when he requested a move to the Richmond Tigers the following year. It was at this time that Phil Walsh was regarded as one of the most respected players in the VFL. This was a big signing for the Tigers which saw both clubs go to court as they both understood how much a player such as Phil Walsh had to offer. This move saw much expectation on Phil in which he thrived upon and continued his good football for his new club. In Phil’s three seasons at the Tigers (1984, 1985, 1986), he played a total of 40 senior games and kicking 14 goals.
‘Walshy’ finished his playing career at the newly established Brisbane Bears in 1987. In what shocked many players and coaches, Phil’s game went up yet another level once joining his third club. The first player ever to put on a #18 guernesy for Brisbane, Walsh also became the inaugural best and fairest award recipient for the club in 1987. This season was considered the best season Walsh played apart from his breakout debut season four years prior. In the year that followed, Walsh had another good season before becoming subject to injury in 1989 and 1990. It was then, after 60 games for the Bears, where Walsh decided to hang up the boots on his decorated playing career at 30 years of age. Walsh finished his played career after 122 games of high-class football.
From here, Walsh soon became one of the most sought after assistant coaches in the AFL. His coaching career began as a strength and conditioning coach at Geelong in 1995 working closely alongside players such as Gary Ablett Snr and Paul Couch. In the four years Walsh was at Geelong, they only missed one season of finals and started to begin their ‘Golden Era’ of football. Walsh then migrated to Port Adelaide in what was set to be a decade long stint at the Power. From 1999-2008, Walsh was the midfield assistant coach at the Power and earned himself yet another accolade, that being the 2004 AFL Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year.
During his time at Port, Phil Walsh helped turn the Power into one of the most respected clubs in the competition. During his decade at Port, the Power made finals eight times, including four preliminary finals which turned into two Grand Finals and one Premiership. After this highly successful decade at Port, Walsh decided to work over at West Coast as a strategy & innovation coach from 2009-2013. After five hard working years over in Perth, Walsh decided to come back to Port in 2014 before getting the top job at Adelaide.
After more than two decades in football, Phil Walsh will go down as one of the most respected, intelligent, and hard working people in VFL/AFL history. He battled through adversity yet had the determintion to continue his great work which saw him eventually receive the job as head coach of the Adelaide Football Club. Phil had a unique outlook on life and was one of the most interesting characters in modern football. He will be greatly missed by many as we together grieve the death of a man that left this world too soon.
On behalf of Sports Banter, we would like to send our deepest condolences to the Adelaide players, staff and coaches, but most importantly the Walsh family and friends who were closest to Phil throughout his lifetime. We have lost one of the greatest people of Australian Rules Football.
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R.I.P Phil Walsh
1960 – 2015