Then came the band's detour down a politics-in-sport path most famously taken by the band that Killers lead singer Brandon Flowers celebrated in his introduction: Midnight Oil, whose 2000 Sydney Olympics performance wearing "Sorry" T-shirts is perhaps the apex of the genre. Flowers launched his crew into a stunning cover of Forgotten Years, the track from the Oils' landmark 1990 album Blue Sky Mining that reflects on national history, national shame and the things we try to forget because they are the things we should most remember. The Killers perform at the AFL grand final Credit:Julian Smith A sample: "Our shoreline was never invaded, our country was never in flames;

This is the calm we breathe, this is a feeling too strong to contain; Still it aches like tetanus, it reeks of politics; Signatures stained with tears, who can remember; We've got to remember..." One assumes the AFL - which recently weathered, with not much success, racism controversies involving Adam Goodes and Heritier Lumumba - knew what was coming. Or maybe it didn't, and got the surprise it deserved. Whatever the case, the reaction seemed mostly positive if social media is anything go by.

And regardless, it breathed fresh life into an annual gig that has become something of a national joke, never more so than when Meatloaf's Grand Final show in 2011 gave birth to a million sour jokes and memes. In short, The Killers killed it on Saturday. They also conquered the added difficulty of this performance: that it takes place in broad daylight, in a massive stadium populated by fans scarcely interested in the musical offerings given the game to come, and with a massive television and social media audience hellbent on slamming whoever and whatever is served up on the MCG stage. One act who never fails to please, though, is Mike Brady, who on Saturday was plonked in the middle of the stands to sing Up There Cazaly, the Seven marketing gimmick from 1979 that has become a grand final staple and a genuine, moving anthem of the game. And speaking of anthems: the now ubiquitous Dami Im was tasked with singing the national anthem whose awkward musical and lyrical contortions have defeated many before her. Loading

As our new queen of the high notes, Dami advanced Australia fairly well, but the AFL would do well to consider the revival of a former Grand Final staple: what has become of Waltzing Matilda? At least everyone knows all the words.