Adelaide Crows coach Phil Walsh's death to be felt by AFL after successful coaching stints at Port Adelaide, West Coast Eagles

Phil Walsh's death will be felt far and wide across the AFL.

Predominantly a wingman throughout his VFL career, Walsh played 122 games across three separate stints at Collingwood, Richmond and the Brisbane Bears.
His post-playing career would see him spread his influence from Victoria and Queensland to two more states in South Australia and Western Australia, enjoying coaching tenures at Geelong, Port Adelaide, the West Coast Eagles, before being named head coach at the Adelaide Crows.
Walsh's lasting legacy will be the midfield units he helped forge as a coach for a number of teams around the country.
After starting out as a strength and conditioning coach at Geelong, Walsh was largely credited for being the architect of Port Adelaide's 2004 premiership triumph, when the Power beat the formidable Brisbane Lions at the MCG.
One of Port Adelaide's players in that squad, Warren Tredrea, said Walsh was an expert in identifying "red flags" from the coach's box, while ruckman Dean Brogan - now an assistant coach at the Giants - lauded Walsh for his adaptability.
"He's very old school, with the hard-work emphasis. But he's the kind of guy who adapts," Brogan told the Herald Sun in 2014.
"You don't stay in footy for as long as he had unless you can adapt to different generations and different people.''
Walsh was awarded the AFL Coaches Association award for assistant coach of the year following Port Adelaide's 2004 triumph.
In 2009, Walsh moved to the West Coast Eagles as an assistant coach under John Worsfold.
Former head coach John Worsfold was glowing in his praise for Walsh, saying his passion and enthusiasm left a lasting impression at the Eagles.
"He is a very strong character and obviously hugely knowledgeable about the game. I'm rapt that he's grabbed the opportunity because he's a very intelligent footy person," Worsfold told the Sunday Mail upon Walsh's appointment as Crows coach.
"He's drawing on a lot of experience. It's not a bad pathway for someone like him into coaching. He felt like the time was right and wanted to challenge himself.'
"I enjoyed my time working with Phil. He challenged all of us at different levels and he was very passionate and enthusiastic.
"The players really enjoyed working with him and we had a lot of trust in him.''
In late 2012 Walsh said he thought he was going to die after being hit by a bus while trying to cross a road in Peru. He suffered a broken pelvis and collarbone and had to be flown back to Australia for treatment.
At the time he accepted the Crows' top job he said the accident had changed his outlook on life, giving him a "second chance".
"It has been a big moment for me ... I don't drink alcohol anymore, try not to drive a car, try and spend as much time with the people who are important, I try not to judge people as much as I did," he told afl.com.au.
"I tell my kids to chase their dreams, so I probably don't want to look back at 70 years old and think what might have been."

Walsh returned to Port Adelaide in 2014 as an assistant coach, specialising in midfield strategy, before taking up the Adelaide Crows head coach job after Brenton Sanderson's sacking.
ABC Grandstand AFL commentator Gerard Whateley described Walsh as a coach of "fearsome reputation" and "one of the most innovative minds in the game" who formed a close connection with his players.
"When he got the [Adelaide Crows] job he privately took himself overseas and did a course about man management," Whateley told ABC News Breakfast.
"He knew football, he knew tactics, he was a demanding man, but what he didn't have across the journey had been how to manage generation-wide. That's the you one thing they did privately to set himself up for it.
"He has formed a very close connection to his players in a very short period."