DUSTIN Martin's grandmother watched on with pride as the Richmond star was presented with his second Norm Smith Medal - one of only four players to achieve such a feat.
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Lois Knight said her grandson was quick to tuck the medal away down the front of his shirt, preferring to let the premiership medal shine.
"It's a team thing we did," his actions showed.
"We were ecstatic, all of us, and so rapt he got the Norm Smith Medal again," Knight said.
She was one of a number of family members at the game, cheering the Tigers on as they secured a 89-point victory over Greater Western Sydney Giants.
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Also among the 100,014 people in the crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground was Bendigo Pioneers talent manager Steve Sharp.
He said the club had one player in each camp, with Brent Daniels of the Greater Western Sydney Giants also among the former Pioneers products.
"Either way, we were going to win," Sharp said.
But to see Martin play for another premiership, and be recognised yet again as the best player on the ground, was fantastic.
"It's quite inspiring for all other young kids going through talent pathways," Sharp said.
He said what Martin had been able to achieve was great for young football players all around the country, but especially those in his home region.
Castlemaine Football Netball Club president Michael Blake said performances like Martin's today gave young people confidence that they could achieve great things from a small town.
Blake said what the former Castlemaine player had achieved was pretty amazing.
"We made a call about halfway through the last quarter - we thought it likely he'd get another medal," he said.
Campbells Creek Football Netball Club secretary Marg Stevens said she'd been hoping Martin would be recognised with a Norm Smith Medal a second time.
"We just couldn't be prouder of him," she said.
"It's definitely a huge achievement for him to have done it twice."
The AFL star's football career started at Campbells Creek - that's where he played juniors.
Even Greater Western Sydney Giants player Adam Tomlinson's grandfather, Basil Ashman, thought the best team on the day won - and very comfortably, at that.
"It's a bit hard to deny that," Ashman said.
"It was a pretty big hiding that GWS got."
All the same, he said his grandson had done a good job.
"In eight years they've come a long way," Ashman said of GWS.
He expected the club would win a premiership within a couple of years.
The full-time score of the 2019 AFL Grand Final was Richmond 114 to GWS Giants 25.
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