‘I wasn’t a very nice person’: Barry Hall opens up on violent acts in AFL career

An emotional Barry Hall broke down when discussing his most violent moment and the role his wife has played in his life.

Barry Hall has admitted he “wasn’t a very nice person” during his AFL career, as he opened up on his history of on-field violence and struggle with anger management.

On Tuesday night’s episode of SAS Australia, the former Sydney Swans captain reflected on the infamous incident in 2008 when he knocked West Coast’s Brent Staker out cold with a lethal punch to the head.

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Hall was suspended for seven games for the act and said it took him a long time to manage his violent streak and stop lashing out.

“I’ve messed up a lot but I’ve sort of learnt from it,” he said.

“People ask if I have regrets because I’ve done some things I probably shouldn’t have. But I don’t actually regret things because they’ve got me to the place where I’m at now. It’s all about the journey I guess.

When asked what is “biggest f*** up” was, Hall referred to the Staker incident.

“I was a little bit violent on the football field,” he said.

“I was throwing fists and I knocked a guy out and it was my f*** up.

“He was grabbing me from behind and I swung around just swung a fist out of frustration. Two or three seconds later I regretted it.

Barry Hall’s famously knocked out Brent Staker in 2008.

“I was so young and immature. I had a chip on my shoulder, had a bit of ego. I was fighting a lot of demons.

“I eventually got sacked by a football club (the Swans) and moved on. I had to go away and find out why I was doing those things, which I did. I had a bit of an anger issue.

“When I played football, to be perfectly honest I wasn’t a very nice person. I don’t want to go back there.

“I think I’ve got it (his anger issue) fully under control but I haven’t been put under those pressure situations consistently.”

Hall also spoke about the impact of growing up in a childhood he described as “dysfunctional”.

“There wasn’t much love in the household,” he said.

“I would go home to dad and brag about the fights I was in and try get his approval.

“You’d see a little smirk on his face — until you had a couple bruises on you and he asked what happened. And if he wasn’t happy with that, you’d have to go back and square up again. “Being a dad myself now, I can’t get around how you could be the way he was.”

Barry Hall has opened up on his violent acts throughout his AFL career.

The 45-year-old broke down in tears when he opened up on the role his wife Laurent Brant has played in helping him in deal with his aggression from his football career.

“Lauren is an amazing mum, amazing wife — has helped me so much,” Hall said, wiping away tears.

“We’re all pretty lucky.”

Hall recently confessed he is terrified about one of his children stumbling across the photos of the moment where he knocked Staker out.

Hall and Brant share three children — four-year-old Miller, two-year-old Houston and baby boy Samson.

Speaking on the Who The Fook Are These Guys podcast, he revealed how he feels about his past coming back to haunt him when parenting his children.

“He said to me the other day, ‘Daddy, why are you always punching people’. And I was like, ‘Oh s*** what’s he talking about. Has he seen my footy clips’. But he actually goes through my phone and he actually watches me training,” Hall said on the podcast.

Hall is worried about his children learning about his violent past. Photo: Lauren Brant Instagram

“I thought he was talking about the footy stuff. I was like, ‘Oh no, what have you seen’.

“I’m going to have to wait until they’re teenagers to have that conversation with them. But I told him that daddy is just trying to put him through school and this is about a sport and the guy I’m actually fighting, we’re good friends.

“It’s one of those guilty conscience moments I’m going to have with him when he’s about 12 I reckon.”

Later in the SAS episode, he was made to fight former Bachelor Locky Gilbert in a King of the Ring-style challenge but popped a rib in the first round and lost the fight.

The pain from the injury forced Hall to quit the show.

Hall will make his long-awaited return to the boxing ring against Sonny Bill Williams on March 23.

Originally published as ‘I wasn’t a very nice person’: Barry Hall opens up on violent acts in AFL career