It is also a quality that Wallis will drum into the playing group. Undoubtedly this is one of the reasons Sheedy was so keen to see Wallis return to Windy Hill. With the likes of Michael Long, Damien Hardwick and Sean Denham joining Wallis as recent retirees, there has been a perception around the traps that Essendon might struggle in physical contests.
If Wallis has his way, it is a train of thought that will quickly dissipate.
""He has been away for two years so I haven’t seen as much of him and certainly haven’t seen any of him from a coaching point of view. He was a hard-nosed player and that reputation has become a part of his coaching. He has really made a significant change to the playing group and he basically took training up until the Christmas break,"" Harvey said.
""He has got the group swung around to the point where they are actually training themselves in many ways and that has just come about through him instilling his own values and principles into the group. The change has been sensational.""
Wallis is a far cry from the former teammate that Harvey grew up with. ""The tone of the conversation has changed a bit from the old days, I must say. It has gone from talking about going out and where we are going to talking about the family,"" Harvey said.
Don't forget to grab your 2004 EFC membership.
