The son of the late, great Robert Walls is the Dockers’ affable list boss – technically the club’s head of player personnel – a man universally respected not only for his ability to unearth talent, but also to develop and maintain strong relationships in the tricky AFL climate.
asserted
son → respect → climate
Everyone this masthead spoke to about Walls this week, on and off the record, noted that he would hate the attention being on him.
asserted
attention → speak → him
They all showered him with praise, anyway.
asserted
They → shower → praise
But Walls was not even the Dockers’ first choice to replace Brad Lloyd when the latter resigned to become Carlton’s football manager at the end of 2018.
asserted
latter → replace → 2018
Many believed Walls was Lloyd’s obvious successor, but football boss Peter Bell instead opted for Mark Micallef.
asserted
Bell → believe → Micallef
Micallef lasted only a year in the job before parting ways with Fremantle, who belatedly promoted Walls from national recruiting manager – and the rest is history.
asserted
rest → last → manager
What has played out is a masterpiece that Picasso would be proud of.
asserted
Picasso → play → that
Walls has pulled all the levers in the AFL’s player-movement mechanisms, from the draft to trades and free agency, recycled players and the pre-season supplemental selection period.
asserted
Walls → pull → trades
The Dockers plucked all of Patrick Voss, Corey Wagner, Mason Cox and Oscar McDonald off the scrapheap, and each will play in Saturday’s grand final against the Brisbane Lions.
asserted
each → pluck → Lions
“David’s done a phenomenal job,” said former Sydney and Brisbane list manager and recruiter Kinnear Beatson, who gave Walls his start as a low-level scout in the mid-1990s when his father was coaching the then-Bears.
asserted
father → do → Bears
“He’s not the sole decision-maker, and it’s been in conjunction with his team, but he drives it.
asserted
he → ’ → it
If you go through the list, and how he’s brought it together … ‘astute’ is the word I’d use.”
asserted
I → go → it
Those who know and have worked with Walls say his desk is fastidiously clean and uncluttered, he dedicatedly churns through game vision and is famously genial with the ability to be firm when required.
asserted
he → know → ability
As Beaton puts it, “He is the type of guy who makes an impression, and parents would hope their son goes to his club”.
asserted
son → put → club
Walls prioritises home visits more than most in his position, according to industry sources, and that devotion ended up being critical in ignoring the groupthink noise around Reid.
uncertain
devotion → prioritise → Reid
“He gets to know the players and their families really well, and builds a rapport, which allows him to make really sound decisions on which players can come over to WA,” said Lloyd, who worked with Walls for 11 years.
asserted
who → get → years
Reid-ing the room
Reid is the crown jewel in Fremantle’s success, a whizkid whose output in his draft year – Vic Metro’s MVP, under-18 All-Australian and Talent League team of the year – screamed top-five pick.
asserted
output → - → pick
But, as has been well-told by now, he slipped to the Dockers’ first pick at No.17.
asserted
he → tell → No.17
There were various concerns that led to Reid’s slide.
asserted
that → be → slide
He was supposedly a flight risk who wouldn’t want to leave his family and friends behind.
asserted
who → want → family
There was also the circulating story about an interaction with Ross Lyon’s kid that Reid recalls very differently.
asserted
Reid → be → that
On the field, recruiters feared he was too small, too slow and too often second in the possession chain rather than the one winning the ball at “the coalface”.
asserted
he → fear → coalface
He would need to make his living as a high half-forward.
asserted
He → need → forward
One experienced recruiter from a different club told this masthead in Reid’s draft year that his hands were so good he wouldn’t drop a catch if you fielded him at first slip.
asserted
you → tell → slip
His decision-making in general was widely acclaimed.
asserted
making → acclaim → ?
Walls, recruiting manager David McMullin and the rest of Fremantle’s list-management crew, including Liam Woodland, Ed McMullin, Cam Allen and Nick Connors, did their due diligence across the board, including on character, and are reaping the rewards.
asserted
Walls → include → rewards
The go-home factor
The pick the Dockers used on Reid came via the same deal in which they secured Shai Bolton from Richmond, capitalising on the Tigers’ flagging fortunes to bring home a star.
asserted
they → go → star
Bolton’s arrival at the end of 2024 followed Fremantle luring West Australians Luke Jackson (2022) and Jordan Clark (2021) – who have both become All-Australians since – while they traded for Judd McVee last year.
asserted
they → follow → McVee
Those three were all Perth-based player agent Jason Dover’s clients.
asserted
three → base → ?
Walls loved Jackson and Clark as juniors, and was hellbent on trading for them after other clubs swooped.
asserted
clubs → love → them
Walls admitted after seeing him thrive at the Demons that he evaluated him wrongly in his draft year.
asserted
he → admit → year
“We have a relationship built on trust and working together,” Dover said of he and Walls.
asserted
Dover → have → he
“In an industry where you can’t trust a lot of people, he put the runs on the board really early in the piece.”
asserted
he → trust → piece
Jaeger O’Meara was another West Australian who returned to his home state under Walls’ watch, in a trade where Hawthorn agreed to pay a chunk of the experienced midfielder’s remaining contract.
asserted
Hawthorn → return → contract
The Big Cohuna
Reid might be the most recent and celebrated of Fremantle’s draftees, but the club’s list is littered with outstanding selections.
uncertain
list → litter → selections
The Dockers importantly nailed their early picks, headlined by Caleb Serong, Hayden Young, Jye Amiss and Andrew Brayshaw.
asserted
Dockers → nail → Serong
In Serong’s case, they bundled selections to rise in the draft order to get him in 2019, using the collateral from Bradley Hill and Ed Langdon’s departures.
asserted
they → bundle → departures
Fremantle selected Amiss with the prized pick from the Adam Cerra package after the midfielder left for Carlton.
But the Dockers also repeatedly struck gold later in the national draft, as well as in the rookie equivalent and the pre-season supplemental selection period (SSP), where they recruited Voss, Isaiah Dudley, Cox, Chris Scerri and Jeremy Sharp.
asserted
they → select → Voss
“Wallsy puts a value on those [later] picks,” Dover said.
asserted
Dover → put → picks
Related Article
“He goes harder at them, which you can afford to do when you’ve got the list they have now.
asserted
they → go → list
…and 18 more, not listed.
The Aporia
