Sacked podcast 2024: Paul Roos on Barry Hall’s departure from the Sydney Swans after punch on Ben Rutten

Paul Roos faced plenty of challenges throughout his playing and coaching career, here he reveals the toughest part of his football journey was dealing with the fallout from another Barry Hall hit. LISTEN HERE.

Barry Hall and Paul Roos during the former captain’s announcement that he would be leaving the Swans.

Former Sydney coach Paul Roos has described Barry Hall’s exit from the club after he punched Adelaide opponent Ben Rutten as his most challenging moment in football, detailing his regrets at screening his premiership captain’s calls in the days after the incident.

Hall hit Rutten in a round 13, 2009 clash against Adelaide at Football Park, the latest in a long line of incidents including strikes on Brent Staker and Shane Wakelin.

Roos was so furious with Hall that he repeatedly refused to answer his call over the weekend and then in his Monday press conference said his forward’s actions made it clear he didn’t want to play football.

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Hall did not play another game as a Swan but finished his career at the Bulldogs in a brilliant 289-game, 746-goal three-club career which started at St Kilda.

Hall told Sacked in 2020 he was disappointed with Roos’ actions and in his autobiography said he was lucky he had his fiancee, as well as friend and confidante Phil Mullen with him on that Saturday night to avoid him doing something personally damaging.

Roos told the Herald Sun’s Sacked podcast this week that while it was time for Hall to depart – he played two final seasons at the Western Bulldogs – he should have handled his exit with more class.

“Yeah, that’s probably the hardest part of my career when I look at Hally having to leave the club,” Roos told Sacked.

Barry Hall with coach Paul Roos after Hall resigned from the Swans.

“I think hopefully when Hally looks back on it, he sees the Bloods’ culture is really important. And we just wanted to hold people accountable to their behaviour. And we loved Hally. I think Kirky (Brett Kirk) was quoted as saying he’d trust Barry with his kids, but he just wouldn’t trust him on the ground.

“And let’s be clear, for the majority of time, Hally was a captain of the club and drove the Bloods’ culture and things like that. It’s probably the sad part of my career that he couldn’t finish with the club and resigned.

“I don’t look at the time fondly because it was a tough time but hopefully Hally looks back with enough great memories because he and I were the ones that held the cup up together.’’

Asked about not answering Hall’s multiple phone calls – as he first sought to explain his actions then find out whether his Swans career was over – Roos was adamant he should have done better.

Barry Hall and Paul Roos in the change rooms after Hall was reported for striking West Coast’s Brent Staker.

“Yeah, 100% I do regret it,” he said. “I think he rang and I was in match committee, we were reviewing the game. I was fuming … like fuming. I try to put his hat on, and hopefully he can put my hat on. And I should have rang him before the press conference, and he was really angry and he should have been. I built my time on relationships.

“But I was really angry, and I should have still reached out to him before the press conference, and said, ‘Hally, what do you want me to say? I’m angry. I don’t really know what to say. I’m sort of at the end of my tether’.

“So we had a really animated conversation probably the next day. And then I said, ‘Look, just go away and have a think about what you want to do’. And he came back in my office again, and we had a really good conversation, but I’m sure (it) left a bad taste in his mouth, and if I had the time over again, as angry as I was, yeah, I should have reached out. I should have rang him and made sure we sat down.

“I didn’t think the press conference was going to be that big a deal, but I should have known better, because of how big he was as a star and how we were as a football club.”