TRIBUTE LOCKER
Tributes to Terry Wallace as he prepares to pull the curtain on his media career, ending a 42-year involvement in AFL/VFL.

THE COMMENTATOR

Gerard Whateley

“There’s an undeniable generosity in Terry Wallace as a commentator. He fosters a sense of team where each voice is welcome and each contribution valued. He’s as likely to ask a question as field one. His knowledge is undeniable and built from the rarest of diligence. He watches every game, every round. AFL and AFLW. If it happened, he’s seen it. It’s a tremendous knowledge base from which to draw his opinions, analysis and comparisons.”

THE COACH

Robert Walls

“He was always a bit different, a little bit out there and you were always very wary coaching against him because you did not know what he’d pull. He was prepared to be different. He would make moves and vary his game styles. You never knew if he would be ultra defensive or super attacking. He would look at the opposition and suss out the best way to beat them. As a coach, I reckon he was able to get good ordinary players to become very good players which is a mark of very good coach.”

THE TEAMMATE

Russell Greene

“I nicknamed him Plough. He was amazingly tenacious and focused on the footy. We had Colin Robertson, Rocket Eade and myself, the runners, and there was an unspoken rule: When Plough went to get the ball, off we went. He was stupidly tough. Did you know he never wore a mouthguard. Same as Barney (Leigh Matthews). He wanted to always play against the best. Physically he was tenacious and mentally super strong and those two ingredients together … well, he is a Hall of Famer. A lot of people would say he concentrated on stats, but in my opinion he was highly team oriented. I can’t speak highly enough of him.”

THE PLAYER

Brad Johnson

“I found Plough brilliant for me as a player. He would drive work rate and a commitment to improve with every session and game. He changed my role from a midfielder to a forward and the support he put around me to make this transition allowed me to grab the opportunity with both hands. Plough guided me as a young player to understand the true demands of playing at AFL level every week.”

THE OPPONENT

Scott Clayton

“If you played on him every week you would be dead. Resilient, super tough, incredible work rate. He would not accept being out of the game for one minute. Great player.”

THE ASSISTANT COACH

Jade Rawlings

“He backed me in from day one. Taught me about attention to detail, how to manage challenging behavioural situations, and the standard required to be a successful coach.

I coached VFL under Terry, and he put 100 per cent trust in me to coach the players and game style without interfering once. He loved everything that came with game day. The challenge of strategising from the box, the messaging in his media duties and his fitted black shirt! Terry loves the game. Whether it be AFL, Under-18s or AFLW, he loves it.”