THE ELEVATION of Western Australian football great Bill Walker to Legend status kicked off a historic night on Tuesday as the game honoured its champions at the Australian Football Hall of Fame, while West Coast hero John Worsfold and SANFL goalkicking champion Tim Evans have been inducted.

Walker, whose elevation as the 34th Legend of Australian Football was first announced in February ahead of the AAMI AFL Origin clash in Perth, was celebrated as a champion rover and prolific goalkicker who remains the only four-time winner of the Sandover Medal.

A member of Swan Districts' first ever premiership team in 1961, he won three consecutive flags with the WAFL club across 305 games between 1961-76, booting 456 goals and winning five club champion awards.

An inaugural inductee in the Hall of Fame in 1996, Walker joins fellow WA football greats Merv McIntosh, Graham Farmer and Haydn Bunton snr with Legend status after an incredibly successful career that also included 21 games for WA, a Simpson Medal in 1967 and All-Australian selection in 1969.

The son of a Narembeen farmer in WA's wheatbelt, he dominated country football as a small and lightly built rover who had speed, endurance, and polished skills on both sides of his body.

He revolutionised WA football as a forward pocket in his early WAFL years, roaming widely through the forward line rather than staying in position next to the full forward. He became a full-time rover from 1965 and won his first Sandover Medal immediately as the WAFL's best and fairest player.

Now a grandfather of seven and great-grandfather of two, Walker is regarded as the greatest player to represent Swans and was president of the club from 1983-95.

As arguably the most significant figure in West Coast history, John Worsfold joins the Hall of Fame after a playing and coaching career that left an indelible mark on his club and the national competition.

Worsfold was a fierce and committed defender who captained the Eagles to their first two premierships in 1992 and 1994, playing 209 games, winning All-Australian selection twice, and laying the platform through his leadership for the club to become a powerhouse.

Appointed coach before the 2002 season, he took the team to finals in his first season and then the 2006 premiership, coaching for a club record 281 games until 2013 and returning to now serve as the Eagles' head of football.

He earns selection in the Hall of Fame given his stature and success at the club, which now names its club champion award in honour of the WA football great.

Goalkicking great Tim Evans joins the Hall of Fame as one of only two players in SANFL history with more than 1000 goals to his name, with the powerful full forward revered as a four-time premiership player for Port Adelaide in 1977 and 1979-81.

Initially a defender with Geelong, Evans joined Port Adelaide in the mid-1970s and was moved into attack by coach John Cahill in an inspired move that saw him lead the SANFL goalkicking in six seasons, booting 146 goals in 1980.

Named at full forward in Port Adelaide's Greatest Team, he led the club's goalkicking for nine consecutive seasons from 1977-85, also kicking 41 goals across 10 state games with South Australia.

Indigenous trailblazer David Kantilla was a high-leaping and mobile ruckman from the Tiwi Islands who became a champion of South Australian football after heading south to play 113 games for South Adelaide between 1961-66.

A star member of the Panthers' 1964 premiership team, he became the first Tiwi Islander player to have a substantive career in the SANFL, while also dominating football in the Northern Territory and becoming a legendary figure in the Top End across approximately 180 games with St Mary's.

Named in the Australian Football Indigenous Team of the Century in 2006, Kantilla paved the way for future greats to relocate from the Islands and is a Legend in the NTFL Hall of Fame.

Hayden Kennedy retired as an AFL umpire in 2011, holding the record at that stage of 495 games but falling five games short of a magical milestone due a persistent hamstring injury.

A five-time Grand Final umpire, Kennedy made his senior debut as a 22-year-old and was regarded as a hard trainer who had empathy for players and strong relationships with the game's combatants, umpiring in 39 finals and three state games.

He committed his career to umpiring, going on to coach the AFL umpires between 2013-21 and now holding the same position with the VFL whistleblowers.

More to come