Vale Phil Walsh -- in his own words

[DroppingTheBall]

I would like every post in this thread to start with a Phil Walsh quote, in memoriam. Good or bad, I don't care, as long as you want it to be in this thread. Let it be a kind of self-portrait, assembled by people who feel connected to him, using his own words.

I think it will eventually kind of paint a picture of the man. Right now I feel a sort of hollowness, and this is how I want to put something appropriate in that hollow space.

I'll start:

“You know, more people laugh at me now that I’m senior coach. Tex has been good to me. He said, “Your only problem is you’re actually not too bad with the first joke, but when they laugh at you, you always try to go with another one and that one ain’t that good.’’’’

 

[Scrotes2000]

I remember being worried about him at press conferences before the start of the season. He handled them so well though...really cut through the bullshit that I'm used to and handled himself brilliantly for someone who wasn't naturally gifted or particularly enjoyed media stuff.

 

[Jars458]

Man conversations mean speaking your mind, even if you may not get what you want, so everyone knows where you stand on issues. That's the culture we want at the Adelaide Footy Club

 

[RodnyDangrfield]

"I'm a big believer that you don't rise to the occasion, but you sink to your training standards". Will never forget that quote, was so precise and one that I've taken on board with my own footy training.

 

[NikkiNoo]

So long you Weirdo. I think his own words to describe himself was perfect.

I just wish I got a chance to speak longer with him about coaching than the 2 mins I had.

 

[The Karma Bus]

That wasn't really formula 1 football, was it?

 

[Red mist]

"Only three things determine a battle. 1. Field position, 2. Firepower, 3. And the morale of the troops. Often you can't do anything about field position because you are where you are. You can't do much about firepower because you've either got Buddy Franklin or you don't have Buddy Franklin. But you can do a lot about the morale of the troops, so spend as much time into the morale of the players as you can."

Vale PHIL.

 

[Pugsley]

Adversity causes some men to break.......and others to break records

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

On Brent Reilly

Part of the old Phil Walsh might have screamed at Brent Reilly to get up. Sitting in that hospital, I really wondered if the worst happened whether I would be able to make those same physical demands on the team. In the end, after he came through the operation, I told the guys: 'Let's just get through the week. I won't coach and I won't make demands on you and if you don't feel you can train, then don't. What I've learnt from working with large groups is that we all deal with grief differently. We needed to find out who was grieving and get them the relief they needed. We did a combined session and those who needed to stay away did so. Everyone saw what happened. A few of them have their demons about it and we're dealing with that. Footy clubs are so competitive and, as a group, we judge people constantly and negatively. What I've tried to do is find the 10 things that connect us.

 

[DroppingTheBall]

"Without keeping a dossier on the players, when I engage with a player, I know what’s going on. Mum and dad have split up, he’s trying to do that business course and he hasn’t done it, he’s got a girlfriend and she’s doing nursing, I try to touch on something not footy straight away. I don’t do it to tick a box, I do it because I care about him as a person."

The playing group must be distraught.

 

[Damp Squarie]

"I'm a big believer that you don't rise to the occasion, but you sink to your training standards". Will never forget that quote, was so precise and one that I've taken on board with my own footy training.

It reminded me of Ron Barassi's famous one..." Practice makes perfect is bullshit. Only perfect practice makes perfect."
Walshy had high standards. We will hold him in higher esteem.

 

[moogerfooger]

“I’ve often used the terminology that we can all drive a car but we can’t drive in Formula One. It’s Formula One football. It’s played at a massive speed with great risks. Not everyone can do it."

"Success doesn’t come looking for you. You must chase it as a team, with a focus on hard work and elite habits.”

 

[chazwazza]

"What can I say? I'm a weirdo."
As a fellow weirdo I loved it.

 

[DD#23]

"We often live in a world of should've would've could've. Gentlemen, your time is now, don't waste one second. Some people never get the opportunity that you've got."

 

[Geoffa32]

“ Failure is feedback and it is what we do about it now that matters.”

This is my favourite.

 

[earlsta]

I don't remember the exact words but it something to the words of "There's a term used for coming close, it's called losing, our club doesn't like to lose".

I remember showing this to my cousins and giggling hysterically, I knew then and there that he was the right one to take us to the top.

* me, he's gone.

 

[rezagun]

On Brent Reilly

Part of the old Phil Walsh might have screamed at Brent Reilly to get up. Sitting in that hospital, I really wondered if the worst happened whether I would be able to make those same physical demands on the team. In the end, after he came through the operation, I told the guys: 'Let's just get through the week. I won't coach and I won't make demands on you and if you don't feel you can train, then don't. What I've learnt from working with large groups is that we all deal with grief differently. We needed to find out who was grieving and get them the relief they needed. We did a combined session and those who needed to stay away did so. Everyone saw what happened. A few of them have their demons about it and we're dealing with that. Footy clubs are so competitive and, as a group, we judge people constantly and negatively. What I've tried to do is find the 10 things that connect us.

His wisdom is and always will be a huge bonus for our club

 

[rezagun]

'We had a man conversation'

 

[TheLeftFist8]

“ Failure is feedback and it is what we do about it now that matters.”

This is my favourite.

Mine too.

I ran a training day at work for me team a couple months ago, part of it was motivational in style and I ripped off most of Phil's mantra's (with due credit to the great man of course)…for a bunch of usually hard-bitten, cynical people it had a fantastic impact. Walsh really had a fantastic ability to inspire and communicate.

 

[Pie eyed]

The Pies loss tonight is nothing compared to that of the Walsh family's.
Proudest of how both sides tried to honor the man.

 

[SugarShane]

I don't remember the exact words but it something to the words of "There's a term used for coming close, it's called losing, our club doesn't like to lose".

That was my favourite too. Showed he wasn't going to take second best. I hate that he's not the one leading us forward anymore.

 

[King Elvis]

"Without keeping a dossier on the players, when I engage with a player, I know what’s going on. Mum and dad have split up, he’s trying to do that business course and he hasn’t done it, he’s got a girlfriend and she’s doing nursing, I try to touch on something not footy straight away. I don’t do it to tick a box, I do it because I care about him as a person."

The playing group must be distraught.

That's a great one - and condenses into words why the players loved him so much.

It's funny, he came into the role, and the rhetoric from the AFC, and Walsh himself, was that dealing with the media and the public was a big concern, his main weakness...

Yet he dominated; the media absolutely loved him, and he seemed to let himself enjoy it - and we, the supporters, loved his weirdness as well.

A lot of these quotes are fantastic - they need to go up on the walls of our rooms and training centre.

 

[skoobydoo]

I remember being worried about him at press conferences before the start of the season. He handled them so well though...really cut through the bullshit that I'm used to and handled himself brilliantly for someone who wasn't naturally gifted or particularly enjoyed media stuff.

The way Walshy took to pressers and made them march to his drum, showed me how right he was with the job of getting a football club to come together, stand up and be something.

 

[baldandbroke]

“An attacking brand of football — both offensively and defensively — something the fans will want to come through the doors to see. And I am proud to watch.

If I can’t do that and play an exciting brand and still win, well … guess what? I don’t want to be involved. I’d rather not be here.

Any football club I have been involved with we has always tried to play that way. And that is my preference — because we owe it to the fans. And you might say that is self-serving. No, if you play that boring, sideways, lockdown footy and win a premiership, I don’t want to be a part of it. Simple as that.”

 

[TheLeftFist8]

“An attacking brand of football — both offensively and defensively — something the fans will want to come through the doors to see. And I am proud to watch.

If I can’t do that and play an exciting brand and still win, well … guess what? I don’t want to be involved. I’d rather not be here.

Any football club I have been involved with we has always tried to play that way. And that is my preference — because we owe it to the fans. And you might say that is self-serving. No, if you play that boring, sideways, lockdown footy and win a premiership, I don’t want to be a part of it. Simple as that.”

Sad to say that doesn't sound like Bassett.