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 the following year to coach. Walls was then replaced by John Northey as Brisbane Bears senior coach. Richmond The Richmond Football Club appointed Walls as senior coach for the 1996 season, when he replaced John Northey. In the 1996 season, Richmond under Walls just missed out of the finals where they finished in ninth place with eleven wins and eleven losses. However during the 1997 season, Richmond under Walls struggled and Walls was sacked after a 137-point defeat by the eventual premiers, the Adelaide Crows, in Round 17, 1997. Richmond under Walls also sat 15th (second-last) on the ladder with six wins and eleven losses. Not completing two full seasons of coaching Richmond Football Club, his record at the club stands as 39 games ( 17 wins – 22 losses – 0 draws). Walls was then replaced by assistant coach Jeff Gieschen as caretaker senior coach for the rest of the 1997 season, who was eventually appointed as full-time senior coach of the Richmond Football Club. Victoria State Representative Side Walls returned for one last coaching role, in 1999 he coached Victoria in the state's last ever State Representative game. AFL administrators abandoned state of origin of football as the competition had become a national game with five of the main states fielding teams in the competition, and the risk of injury to players in state representative games became too risky for clubs to warrant their support as well. Post-football career Media 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