CARLTON legend — and renowned West Coast motivator — Robert Walls has finished his AFL media career with a bang, labelling Eagles fans “gullible”, taking credit for galvanising West Coast supporters and labelling the club the ‘West Coast Stealers’.

Walls in March predicted the Eagles would win the wooden spoon as they had lost “a lot of experienced players” and would “take a couple of years to get themselves up and going”.

On Saturday, West Coast won its fourth AFL premiership.

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But in his final appearance on Fox Sports News’ AFL Tonight, Walls cheekily moved to clarify his pre-season prediction just days after the Eagles defeated Collingwood by five points at the MCG in one of the great AFL Grand Finals of the decade.

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“Let me say this: I didn’t think the Eagles would make the eight and I didn’t think Collingwood would make the eight. Did I think the Eagles would win the wooden spoon? No. But I was prepared to say that, because they’re pretty gullible over there,” Walls told AFL Tonight with a laugh.

“I thought that I’d put the bait out — and a lot of the Eagles supporters took it. That’s OK. It actually galvanised the West Coast Eagles supporters … I do take a lot of credit for it.”

Many West Coast fans and AFL followers took to social media to remind many of Walls’ pre-season prediction on Saturday night.

AFL great Robert Walls. Picture: Jake Nowakowski Source: News Corp Australia

Two hours after the match, Walls said he went out to dinner in East Melbourne where he was greeted by dozens of Eagles fans.

But much to his surprise, Walls received a reasonably warm reception — initially.

“I’ve walked in there and there are Eagles supporters everywhere and I thought: ‘Oh here we go’. As it ended up, they gave me a cheer,” Walls said.

“They said ‘thanks for going against us all year’. I ended up taking plenty of photos with them, they even brought drinks across to me and I thought ‘this is pretty good’.

“But when I left, they booed me. As I was walked out the door, one of them said to me: ‘Back to back you reckon?’ I said ‘you won’t make the eight next year’, so I’ve got them set up again.”



In his final bait to Eagles fans, Walls said there had to be a greater appreciation for the players and coaches the club had pinched from interstate and the contribution they made to the premiership.

“I call them the West Coast Stealers’, because you’ve got to look at who they stole from Victoria. I just hope the West Coast people are aware of this,” Walls said.

“Adam Simpson of course, Sam Mitchell the midfield coach who did a terrific job organising the midfield players, Drew Petrie had a big hand in the way the ruckmen played, (Nathan) Vardy played in the ruck — he’s a Victorian as well.

“I just hope they look at that and say ‘we’ve got to thank Victoria for sending over a little bit’.”