Hall: ‘It bothers me quite a bit’

ON the night he was inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame, Barry Hall has revealed the career moment that haunts him.

2005 Grand Final. Sydney Swans v West Coast Eagles. MCG. Coach Paul Roos and Barry Hall raise the cup.

BARRY HALL has used his Hall of Fame speech to discuss the highs and lows of his AFL career.

Hall won an AFL Premiership, was a four-time All Australian and captained the Sydney Swans, but there’s one moment that the now Hall-of-Famer says continues to haunt him.

The champion forward flattened West Coast Eagles player Brent Staker with a devastating punch to the jaw in 2008, that saw Hall suspended for seven matches.

The video of the incident has made its way onto highlight reels and is still available online.

Barry Hall punching Brent Staker.

While Hall’s career is filled with cherished moments, the incident with Staker is not one of them.

“It bothers me, yes it does,” Hall told Fox Footy.

“I do a lot of speaking stuff and guys like to be guys and say ‘It was great what you did’, but it’s just a load of crap — it wasn’t great.

“Kids have to watch that and I’m a father now and I don’t want my boy to see his father do that. And the bare bones of it is Brent Staker has to live through that now.

“I’m sure if his mates are like mine, they’ll be reminding him everyday about it. Maybe in a light-hearted way, but he has to live through that, and people that you don’t know will be reminding him of it.

“So that does bother me, it bothers me quite a bit.

“But I can’t do anything about it now. I’ve apologised, but Brent Staker has to live through that.”

2017 AFL Hall of Fame inductee Barry Hall speaks to Gerard Whateley at the event at Adelaide Oval. picture: Bianca De Marchi

Hall also reflected on another incident that saw him sent to the AFL judiciary.

In the week leading to the 2005 Grand Final, Hall was charged with striking St Kilda’s Matt Maguire in the preliminary final which placed his involvement in the biggest match of his career in doubt.

While the city of Sydney was gripped with nerves, unsure of whether their star would be cleared to play, Hall said the experience was actually good fun.

“It was actually quite enjoyable,” Hall said.

“It sounds funny, but there was a bit of a clause, we had a good QC. Always get a good QC.

“The number one ticket holder at that stage got us a private jet, he wanted no fuss. Put us on a private jet. We got a limo from Essendon Airport, out the back of the tribunal, got off the charge, back in the limo — on the private jet back home, quite enjoyable.”

Footballer Barry Hall before punching Matt Maguire.

The 2005 Grand Final win is the highlight of Hall’s glittering AFL career.

But Hall said he should have never taken the field, after his hit on Macguire.

“There was a little glitch in the rules, we knew that. It was just about making it not as messy as it should have been,” Hall said. “If rules are rules, I shouldn’t have played.

“I shouldn’t have played in the Grand Final, I hit a guy. The rules were ‘in play or out of play’ — it was clearly out of play. But I got away with one, what can you do?”