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Australian Football League (AFL) player and coach Robert Walls has died aged 74, after using voluntary assisted dying laws.<\/p>\n
Walls – a Carlton Football Club legend – won three premierships with the team as a player and one as coach, and later became a media figure and pundit.<\/p>\n
He was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, a rare and aggressive form of blood cancer, in 2023.<\/p>\n
His family told local media he died surrounded by his children, in his apartment which overlooked the home of AFL in Victoria, the Melbourne Cricket Ground.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The state of Victoria introduced voluntary assisted dying laws in 2019, which allow a person in the late stages of advanced disease to end their life using medication, with the approval of two doctors.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Walls’ family said he died on Thursday morning, local time, “after 14 years as a league player, 16 years as a coach, 25 years as a commentator and a lifetime as a self-proclaimed ‘fan'”.<\/p>\n
“Having battled cancer for more than two years, Robert did it his way and chose to end a fight that had seen him spend more than 250 nights in hospital during the past two years,” the statement continued.<\/p>\n
In a post on X, Carlton FC paid tribute to the sporting icon, describing him as “one of our game’s great servants”.<\/p>\n
Walls played more than 200 matches for Carlton FC, winning premierships in 1968, 1970 and 1972. <\/p>\n
His coaching career included a 1987 win for Carlton, as well as guiding the Brisbane Lions and Richmond Tigers. He retired in 1997 and became a well-known AFL commentator.<\/p>\n
Walls wife Erin died of cancer in 2006. He is survived by his three children and partner Julie, according to local media. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n