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Andrew Wu
BARRY HALL says he felt his relationship with Paul Roos was strained well before his controversial hit on Brent Staker after questioning Sydney's game plan in a private meeting in 2007.
In his book, Pulling No Punches, which is in bookstores from today, Hall documents the tension between himself and Roos, which left a stain on the forward's eight-year career at the club.
Hall said the relationship between the pair, who played key roles in the Swans' drought-breaking flag in 2005, started to get ''a little strained'' well before the spearhead's departure at the end of 2009.
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The book also reveals how close Hall was to accepting an offer from Danny Green to switch to boxing; gives an insight into the Bloods culture at the Swans; tells how he tried to leave the Swans and join the Bulldogs at the end of 2008; and how Hawthorn were keen to recruit him after he left Sydney.
Hall writes about a meeting he and Michael O'Loughlin had with the coaching staff to express concerns about the game plan, and how they felt it was not working for the forwards, and suggested ''some new ways of doing things''.
''They put it back onto me, saying I was blaming the game plan because I wasn't getting a kick,'' Hall writes. ''It all got turned back onto me again. 'You let the media affect you,' I was told. 'Hang on, let's stop the meeting here,' I said. 'This is ridiculous - what are you talking about? I'm here to help us try to win more games, that's all. I'm not suggesting this so I can kick 10 goals next week - I'm here because I want to win.'
''I was told that my body was not letting me do what I wanted it to do, but I said it wasn't about that.
''They just didn't get it.''
Hall described the Staker punch as the ''darkest mark on my career'' and addresses speculation at the time, including suggestions his love life was the catalyst.
''A lot of crap was written afterwards about my relationships and the mental state I was in before the game, but that was just bullshit,'' Hall writes.
''The truth was I was continually wound up by Staker, and by the umpire who wouldn't do his job. I got frustrated, and the result was … well, we all know what it was.
''I'm not good enough to play well if I'm off my game because I'm thinking about my ex-girlfriend. And anyway, how could they think that I run around the footy field thinking about girls?''
Hall said he was willing to do whatever it took to get back on the field, even if that meant saying there were matters in his private life that were affecting him and spending several weeks on the psychologist's couch.
BARRY HALL says he felt his relationship with Paul Roos was strained well before his controversial hit on Brent Staker after questioning Sydney's game plan in a private meeting in 2007.
In his book, Pulling No Punches, which is in bookstores from today, Hall documents the tension between himself and Roos, which left a stain on the forward's eight-year career at the club.
Hall said the relationship between the pair, who played key roles in the Swans' drought-breaking flag in 2005, started to get ''a little strained'' well before the spearhead's departure at the end of 2009.
Advertisement: Story continues below
The book also reveals how close Hall was to accepting an offer from Danny Green to switch to boxing; gives an insight into the Bloods culture at the Swans; tells how he tried to leave the Swans and join the Bulldogs at the end of 2008; and how Hawthorn were keen to recruit him after he left Sydney.
Hall writes about a meeting he and Michael O'Loughlin had with the coaching staff to express concerns about the game plan, and how they felt it was not working for the forwards, and suggested ''some new ways of doing things''.
''They put it back onto me, saying I was blaming the game plan because I wasn't getting a kick,'' Hall writes. ''It all got turned back onto me again. 'You let the media affect you,' I was told. 'Hang on, let's stop the meeting here,' I said. 'This is ridiculous - what are you talking about? I'm here to help us try to win more games, that's all. I'm not suggesting this so I can kick 10 goals next week - I'm here because I want to win.'
''I was told that my body was not letting me do what I wanted it to do, but I said it wasn't about that.
''They just didn't get it.''
Hall described the Staker punch as the ''darkest mark on my career'' and addresses speculation at the time, including suggestions his love life was the catalyst.
''A lot of crap was written afterwards about my relationships and the mental state I was in before the game, but that was just bullshit,'' Hall writes.
''The truth was I was continually wound up by Staker, and by the umpire who wouldn't do his job. I got frustrated, and the result was … well, we all know what it was.
''I'm not good enough to play well if I'm off my game because I'm thinking about my ex-girlfriend. And anyway, how could they think that I run around the footy field thinking about girls?''
Hall said he was willing to do whatever it took to get back on the field, even if that meant saying there were matters in his private life that were affecting him and spending several weeks on the psychologist's couch.
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