HALL of Fame inductee Barry Hall has confessed he should have missed Sydney’s 2005 premiership for punching St Kilda’s Matt Maguire in the preliminary final.

The goalkicking great captained the Swans to Grand Final glory against West Coast but admitted he was lucky to escape suspension and “got away with one”.

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Sydney’s defence team successfully argued Hall’s stomach punch on Maguire was “in play” despite the incident happening 50m from the action.

Hall, the only AFL player to kick more than 100 goals at three clubs, said the club exploited a loophole in the rules to get him off with a reprimand, and joked the club “had a good QC — always get a good QC”.

“There was a little glitch in the rules and we knew that,” Hall said at the Hall of Fame function on Tuesday night.

“I shouldn’t have played. If rules are rules, I shouldn’t have played the Grand Final.

media_camera Barry Hall fells Matt Maguire during the 2005 preliminary final. media_camera Hall avoided suspension for his punch on Maguire.

“I hit a guy. The rules were “in play, out of play”, he was clearly out of game.

“I got away with one. What can you do?”

But that wasn’t the only controversial punching episode in Hall’s career.

Hall said his ugly punch which floored West Coast’s Brent Staker in 2008 “still bothers” him.

“It wasn’t great, kids have got to watch that. I’m a father now, I don’t want my boy to see his father do that,” Hall said.

“And Brent Staker has to live through that now. I’m sure is his mates are like mine, they’ll be reminding him every day about it, maybe in a lighthearted way, but he has to live through that.

media_camera Barry Hall raises the premiership cup with Sydney coach Paul Roos in 2005.

“It bothers me quite a bit. I can’t do anything about it now. I’ve apologised but Brent Staker has to live through that.

“I’d be lying if I said I stay up at night but it does bother me.”

Hall played 162 games and kicked 467 goals in eight seasons at Sydney after six years at St Kilda, where he played 88 games for 144 goals.

He played two seasons at the Western Bulldogs, kicking 135 goals from 39 games.

Hall revealed when he joined St Kilda he doubted he would last long in the game because of his off-field lifestyle.

“I always trained really hard but once I got away from training, that was the problem. I had my mates who were young ratbags and I wanted to be one of them and thought I could do both. And you just can’t,” he said.

media_camera Barry Hall says his first encounter with Stewart Loewe was daunting.

“I went to St Kilda, I walked in the door, I was six-foot-four and 85kg, and I shook the hand of Stewart Loewe, who was the same height and 115kg. (I was) a fair way off and I needed to play his position.

“I didn’t feel like I belonged at that stage so I didn’t really take it that serious. Yes, I trained hard but I didn’t think I belonged.

“I thought this will probably last four or five years and they’ll get rid of me.”

Hall was inducted in the Hall of Fame with North Melbourne champion Anthony Stevens, ex-Adelaide captain Simon Goodwin, umpire Brett Allen and VFL goalkicking star Ron Todd.