This weekend the Club acknowledges a significant milestone by another of the Club’s most respected players, Tim Wales. In this weekend’s Premier Division Qualifying Final against UNSW-ES Bulldogs at Blacktown International Sportspark – Oval 1, Waler will play his 200th open-age game. Tim becomes the 24th Demon to reach 200 games.
Tim started out as an Auskicker at around six years of age at local junior club Westbrook, where he played through to the Under 16s in his final season of juniors in 2008. He played 118 club games and kicked 62 goals. He was team best & fairest 4 times, including in his last two seasons in the Under 15s and 16s. Tim also played junior representative football including the Under 14 Sydney Starz in 2006.
Tim is a left foot kick and has played the majority of his football as a midfielder. Many of the attributes he displayed as a junior are still the essential qualities that he displays as a senior footballer.
“A naturally gifted footballer. Has heart, speed, fitness and skill … [a] very impressive on-baller.”
“A prolific ball-getter, a natural leader and a great player to coach.”
Of his efforts in his last season in the Under 16s, he was “one of the elite players in a tough competition.”
Such was his obvious football talent that he was selected for an AFL Scholarship with the Geelong Cats in 2008. Under the same program, other current and former club-mates to receive a scholarship include Ranga Ediriwickrama (Geelong in 2007), Michael Johnston (Hawthorn in 2006), Lachy Urwin (also Geelong in 2008) and Stevie Wray (Sydney Swans in 2009). So, Tim ended up at Geelong at around the same time as Ranga, however, as Tim wryly notes “Ranga actually got drafted, I didn’t!” Meeting Gary Ablett and a number of the Geelong guns during his scholarship years was also a great thrill.
Tim, popularly known as ‘Waler’, first played Under 18s footy in 2008 when only 16 years old. He played 34 under-age games over three seasons and during that time he played a couple of open-age games in the reserves and made his Premier Division debut as an 18 year old in Round 8 of 2010 against East Coast Eagles, under Senior Coach Kevin Eynaud. Unfortunately, this match proved not to be the greatest start to his first grade career as Pennant Hills were smashed by almost 10 goals. East Coast would go on to win the second of three consecutive Grand Finals that season. In the Club Notes for his debut round, it was noted that “yet another youngster, Tim Wales, made his senior debut and showed promise for the future.”
In 2010/11, his appearances for Penno were few due to his commitments as a top-up player for the Swans Reserves NEAFL side. During this time he got to play with future Swans star Luke Parker and also played against “Dylan Shiel and a lot of the young GWS and Gold Coast players when they started out in the NEAFL.”
From 2012, however, he has been fully committed to Pennant Hills and has been a mainstay of the Premier Division side for the past twelve seasons. He has been a member of the leadership group for several seasons and he was runner-up Best & Fairest in 2016. He has also played in the AFL Sydney Representative Teams in 2012 & 2013.
Waler has won two Premier Division premierships in 2015 and 2017. He says that he never won a premiership at Westbrook, so winning 2015’s epic Grand Final against arch rivals, East Coast Eagles, is “easily the career highlight.” On both occasions the Demons were rated as rank underdogs! Penno beat the Eagles, who had just returned to the Sydney competition from the NEAFL in 2015, and then won against a Sydney University side flush with NEAFL talent in 2017. In the 2017 GF, Waler kicked the opening goal of the match.
At 31, Tim is now a seasoned player with heaps of experience and he is the perfect role-model for his younger, less experienced teammates. His longevity in the senior side speaks volumes about his resilience and his ongoing ability to perform at the highest level.
Waler’s form this season has been outstanding. For the coach, Ben Roberts:
Tim’s footy this season is as good as anyone in our league right now! He is super reliable, has elite skills, sharp decision making and doesn’t get beaten.
He has been a pleasure to coach and has certainly made my life easier.
It’s a huge accomplishment playing 200 quality games of footy. Well done Waler!
When asked about his form this season Waler says:
Yeah, I’ve been happy with my form. I honestly think it’s been the positional change, going down back, over the past two years and I wish I did it earlier in my career. I feel like I can really play to my strengths down there, reading the ball in the air and using my kicking skills to start our attacks going forward.
Tim is a familiar and popular figure at the Club. He is readily recognisable for his athletic prowess and his ginger locks and more recently, his ginger beard! He’s a stylish guy, well-groomed with a modest swagger. His superb football ability and consistency has been important for the Premier Division side as the Club brings through a new crop of talented youth that will determine the club’s future at the top level. Waler is a senior and seasoned player who continues to perform at the highest level. His on-field work-rate is second to none and he is a fantastic role-model to the ‘pups’ coming through. Tim is a true Demon’s champion and personification of the Club’s ‘Club – Team – Self’ ethos. We wish him all the best in his 200th game this weekend.
Well done Waler.
Go Penno!
Postscript:
Alas that all good things must come to an end! So, it is with some sadness and regret to hear of Waler’s decision to hang-up his boots at the end of season 2023. Compounding this sense of loss, we hear that Turbo (Tom Angel) will be doing likewise. Both these players now have young families and changing priorities. It will be hard to replace these two seasoned champions of the Club, however, the Club is confident that we have a new crop of talented players filling the ranks. Congratulations to both Waler and Turbo on their stellar footy careers with the Demons!
Ben Roberts … Waler and Turbo will both be missed next year, but hopefully we can send them off in style, as they deserve it as greats of the club!