Hall of Fame: Barry Hall went from St Kilda bad boy to premiership captain at Sydney

BARRY Hall went from a wild boy at St Kilda to a premiership captain with Sydney before a career resurrection at the Western Bulldogs and owning a piece of AFL history.

Barry Hall had a feeling he had Sydney would be a good match.

BARRY Hall doesn’t know if it’s a good or bad thing.

He owns a piece of AFL history by being the only player to kick more than 100 goals at three clubs.

“It’s probably a good thing,” he says.

“At all three clubs I had different experiences and they all had an affect on me.

“To kick 100 goals at each showed I at least had an affect on them as well.”

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Hall was a wild boy from Broadford when he joined St Kilda in 1996 where he kicked 144 goals form 88 games before deciding it was best he got out of town.

“I was going out drinking, getting in fights and carrying on,” he explains.

“I was starting to get recognised and I just didn’t know how to handle it.

“I was a young hothead and management said you either stop going out and pull your head in or you have to move interstate.

“I said, ‘Let’s move interstate’.”

Barry Hall with the premiership after Sydney’s Grand Final win in 2005.

The only time he’d been to Sydney previously was to play football so he went on a “gut feel” that the Swans and him would be a good match.

For 162 games and 467 goals they were exactly that with Hall even captaining Sydney in its 2005 premiership victory after Stuart Maxfield was unavailable through injury.

“I fell into it (captaincy) really, I’d like to say I earnt it but actually I was lucky,” he says.

“It’s funny that even when I watch it now, see some highlights of the game or me holding the cup, I still get emotional now about it.

“It’s something you dream about as a kid and it’s something you don’t ever think you will do.”

The dream in Sydney started to sour after his infamous behind-the-play hit on West Coast’s Brent Staker which earnt Hall a seven-week suspension in 2008.

More suspensions followed and by midway through the next season Hall was gone.

“I’m not going to sugar coat it, I was disappointed with how the club handled it,” he said.

“But at the end of the day you have got to take responsibility for what you do. If I didn’t do the actions they wouldn’t have had to handle the thing in the first place.”

Barry Hall started his AFL career at St Kilda.

The Western Bulldogs resurrected his career at the age of 33, a conversation with Dogs coach Rodney Eade the catalyst.

“Before I signed Rodney Eade said, ‘I want you to promise me that you enjoy football, don’t hold high expectations or burdens on yourself’,” Hall said.

“That had been one of my biggest downfalls, putting pressure on myself and after he told me that, to enjoy footy, I played some of the better footy I played in the twilight of my career.

“It was bizarre, I wish someone had told me that 10 years ago.”

Hall kicked 135 goals from his 39 games with the Dogs which included an equal career best 80 goals in 2010.

BARRY HALL

Born: 1977

St Kilda: 88 games, 1996-2001, 144 goals

Sydney: 162 games, 2002-09, 467 goals

Western Bulldogs: 39 games, 2010-11, 135 goals

Premiership: 2005

Sydney captain: 2006-08

St Kilda leading goalkicker: 1999, 2001

Sydney leading goalkicker: 2002-08

Western Bulldogs leading goalkicker: 2010-11

All-Australian: 2004-06, 2010

Sydney B&F: 2004