There were 109,396 people in the stands of the Melbourne Cricket Ground on September 23, 1967 as Richmond and Geelong clashed in the 71st annual Grand Final of the then-Victorian Football League.
As the game went down to the wire, with the Tigers winning their sixth premiership by just nine points, a seven-year-old Richard Griffiths was in the stands to see his first-ever Grand Final.
48 years later, the GIANTS’ Chief Operating Officer is in Melbourne this week, getting ready to take his seat at the MCG on Grand Final Day for the 50th consecutive time. His 50th AFL/VFL Grand Final in 48 years.
“Blessed. When you consider the amount of people who haven’t had the privilege of going to a Grand Final, I feel blessed,” Griffiths said.
“The two drawn Grand Finals in ’77 and 2010 mean I’ve seen 50 in 48 years after being fortunate enough to go to my first Grand Final in ’67.
“In those days my father was a full member of the MCC and each member was allocated what was called two ladies tickets and children under 15 could get in on a ladies ticket.”
Becoming a Hawthorn club member during their dominance in the ‘70s and ‘80s before beginning a 30-year career in the AFL industry at Melbourne and then AFL Queensland before the GIANTS, Griffiths has been fortunate enough to have access to tickets to the AFL’s greatest day for almost five decades.
There’s no doubt there’s something special about Grand Final week. The build-up, the Grand Final parade, the roar inside the ‘G as the national anthem ends and two sides begin to do battle.
“It’s the anticipation and expectation going into the game,” he said.
“The Friday before is a lot of excitement, a lot of celebration of the season. The smart people get an early night on Friday night because they know it’s a big day the next day.
“As a kid I always used to watch the Channel 7 Grand Final marathon as late as I could and then you’d be up early trying to absorb it.
“In the old days when the under-19s used to be at 8.45am I used to go to the under-19s with Dad and the thermos flask, so you’d sit through the Under-19s and the reserves and then the seniors.
“Just the build up and then the national anthem and then the actual countdown to the first bounce.”
Richard Griffiths (L) with GIANTS Board member Peter Taylor at the GIANTS' Hope Estate Grand Final lunch in Sydney this week
And after experiencing 49 consecutive Grand Finals, which one does he rate as the best?
“Do I have to narrow it to one?” he said.
“I thought the ’89 was the best, it was just epic. It had Ablett kicking nine goals, it had a bit of theatre. Dermott Brererton going down in the first minute was unbelievable and the courage of (Robert) Dipierdomenico.
“It was free-flowing, it was high-scoring, it was a matter of Hawthorn hanging on. Geelong were coming, if the game had gone for another two minutes Geelong probably would have got up.
“And then the aftermath of the game with the injuries, Dipper being in hospital; that was probably the most exciting Grand Final and just epic.”
Griffiths has seen the utter dominance of the Hawks in the ‘70s and ‘80s, the powerful West Coast and North Melbourne sides of the ‘90s, experienced first-hand the remarkable Lions three-peat and then watched as Geelong and Hawthorn fought it out for the title of the greatest side of the modern era.
But it was working to grow football in Queensland when the Brisbane Lions achieved all they did that has left a lasting impression.
“To win three Grand Finals in the era of draft and salary cap is extraordinary,” he said.
“That’s why if Hawthorn win three in a row again like Brisbane, it’s just an extraordinary feat given the equalisation the AFL is trying to put into play and the salary cap and the draft.”
Having been at the GIANTS for almost four years now, his best Grand Final might still be yet to come.
“To have an expansion club in an AFL Grand Final, the Suns or the GIANTS - hopefully the GIANTS - would be perhaps one of the most significant feats in the history of Australian football.
“If this club can get there sooner rather than later and play off in a Grand Final on the MCG, I just think it would be an enormous achievement.”
And straight from the man who has seen more Grand Finals than almost anyone else, he’s tipping a draw as the Hawks and West Coast Eagles go toe-to-toe on Saturday.
“Let’s come back next week! It’s too close to call but I’ll go with the Hawks with their experience.”
