Phil Walsh attended Monivae College and played with Hamilton Magpies before debuting with Collingwood as a 23-year-old in 1983.

He played 22 games with the VFL Magpies and carved out another 100 with Richmond and Brisbane during an eight-season career.

His playing achievements included winning the Bears’ inaugural best-and-fairest award in 1987 while his off-field career spans almost two decades.

The Crows officially unveiled Walsh as their new coach yesterday, with the 54-year-old saying he had been inundated with calls and text messages.

But there was one well-wisher that was particularly poignant for Walsh, an unheralded but vital part of Port Adelaide’s coaching panel during two stints.

It was Caron Bailey, wife of good friend Dean who died of cancer in March.

“It made me quite emotional,” Walsh, who delivered a eulogy at Bailey’s funeral, said in Adelaide.

“She said Dean would have a little bit of a giggle about this and it really did resonate with me.”

Dean Bailey and Walsh formed a close bond during their time at Port, where both men were unheralded figures in the 2004 premiership.

Bailey went on to join Melbourne, where he was ruthlessly sacked despite making some gains, then Adelaide.

Walsh had happily enjoyed relative anonymity as an assistant coach at Port, West Coast and again at Port when he returned for the 2014 season.

But when Adelaide recently expressed interest following the axing of Sanderson, there was a sense of now or never.

“Anyone who has done what I’ve done probably deserves a chance to be a senior coach,” said Walsh, who started his post-playing career working as Geelong’s strength and conditioning guru in 1995.

“I’m 54 years old, (an offer is) probably not going to come around again.

“I tell my kids to chase their dreams, so I probably don’t want to look back 70 years old and think what might have been.”

Walsh signed a three-year contact and urged everyone connected to the Crows to “stick fat”.?

With AAP