Stephen Kernahan, Craig Bradley and Peter Motley, Walls had immediate success in his first year at the club taking the side to a Grand Final in 1986 and a premiership in 1987. Walls would coach Carlton Football Club for four seasons from 1986 to 1989. During this tenure Walls would complete the third achievement in Carlton Football Club folklore. Winning the 1987 premiership, Walls had become a premiership player (1968,1970 and 1972), and club captain (1977–1978) and premiership coach (1987). The Blues under Walls made the finals again in 1988 but by mid-1989 they were struggling when Carlton under Walls lost eight of their first ten games. Walls was sacked as Carlton Football Club senior coach after the team lost a home match to the lowly Brisbane Bears in Round 10, 1989. Walls was then replaced by Alex Jesaulenko as caretaker senior coach of Carlton for the rest of the 1989 season, who was eventually appointed full-time senior coach of Carlton. Walls ended his tenure as coach of Carlton Football Club with 84 games (55 wins – 29 losses – 0 draws). Brisbane Bears Walls became the senior coach of the Brisbane Bears from 1991 to 1995. Walls replaced Norm Dare as senior coach of the Brisbane Bears. It took until the early 2000s for Walls's style of coaching to surface as a method that had become outdated, and criticised in the football and wider community. Walls would coach Brisbane Bears for 109 games (30 wins – 78 losses – 1 draw). It was revealed in the video "Passion To Play" that in Walls first year as Bears coach in 1991, as disciplinary action Walls authorised his players to don boxing gloves and beat 21-year-old teammate Shane Strempel repetitively in the head until he was severely bashed and bloodied after which Strempel quit playing football. Walls' coaching style was criticised about the incident by Kevin Sheedy who has several times questioned his credibility as a football coach. 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