Hundreds of friends and family along with some of the biggest names in sport and politics have filled part of Perth Stadium to capacity for the state funeral of Australian football legend Graham "Polly" Farmer.

Key points: Graham Farmer has been farewelled after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease

Graham Farmer has been farewelled after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease His children gave eulogies, saying his legacy was "of being a good person"

His children gave eulogies, saying his legacy was "of being a good person" Farmer was an Indigenous football star who played in both WA and Victoria

Farmer died in Perth earlier this month at the age of 84 after suffering from Alzheimer's disease for more than a decade.

Today's funeral began with the procession of Farmer's hearse and a police escort, as it left Highgate and travelled along the Graham Farmer Freeway — a road named in his honour.

With the 1,500-strong capacity of Perth Stadium's River View Room exhausted for the service, members of the public who could not fit sat in the stands and watched proceedings on the stadium's big screens.

The funeral was also displayed on large screens in Perth's city centre, including Yagan Square, while people around the country tuned in on radio and online as the service was broadcast live.

Police escorted Graham "Polly" Farmer's hearse towards Perth Stadium for his state funeral. ( ABC News: James Carmody )

Noongar elder Richard Walley opened the funeral with a Welcome to Country before master of ceremonies and ABC Perth Breakfast host Russell Woolf began recounting Farmer's life.

WA Premier Mark McGowan later paid tribute to the Indigenous trailblazer, who played 356 games from 1953 to 1971 across the WAFL and VFL leagues for East Perth, Geelong and West Perth.

"Graham Vivian 'Polly' Farmer was quite simply a legend, a giant of Australian rules football, revered in Western Australia and Victoria as a champion player and person," he said.

Also present to pay respects were WA Governor Kim Beazley, AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan and chairman Richard Goyder, Fremantle Dockers chairman Dale Alcock and actor Ernie Dingo.

'He was pretty special'

Farmer's daughter, Kim Farmer, delivered the opening eulogy.

She said her father would likely have needed little preparation if he were delivering such a speech himself, but still would have nailed it.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 1 minute 47 seconds 1 m 47 s Remembering Graham 'Polly' Farmer

Ms Farmer said as a child she had little knowledge of her father's star status when at home, describing him as a "strong and gentle" parent.

"To me he was just dad at home," she said.

But Ms Farmer acknowledged there was no avoiding football, recounting childhood memories of time spent at games that her father was coaching.

She recalled the crush of crowds waiting to get his autograph and remembered the smell of "sweat and VapoRub" of the changerooms.

"I also noticed people were starting to approach dad with a look of love in their eyes on the street, and I realised he was pretty special," she said.

She said her father approached conflict on the field as he did off the field, "in a thinking way".

Farmer's legacy of 'being a good person'

Ms Farmer also spoke of his foundation legacy in The Graham Polly Farmer Foundation, which supports young people.

Later in life, Farmer established The Graham Polly Farmer Foundation for young people. ( ABC News )

"In the last days, another legacy has become evident — the overwhelming outpouring of love and stories around dad's quiet kindness and caring," she said.

"This legacy of Dad is just of being a good person, and I'm very proud of that.

"Thank you Dad."

Kim Farmer told the service her father was "just dad at home" to her as a child. ( ABC News: Manny Tesconi )

Son Dean Farmer said his father had been a giving man both on and off the field.

"He was the ultimate team man. He would think nothing more than what he could do to benefit his team in any given situation," he said.

"Aside from football, Dad had another side to him, which is why I think he was loved by so many.

"He was humble, he was kind, he was loving, he was forgiving and he was loyal."

Tributes paid to a revolutionary player

Farmer is regarded as one of the greatest players to play Australian rules football and is credited with revolutionising the role of the ruckman, particularly with his trademark use of the handball.

He came from humble beginnings, a member of the Stolen Generation raised at Sister Kate's Home — an orphanage for Indigenous children in Western Australia.

He went on to win six WAFL/VFL premierships, three Sandover medals as the WAFL's top player and 10 club best and fairest awards.

Farmer was a star in the WAFL and the VFL for East Perth, Geelong and West Perth. ( ABC News )

Good friend and fellow football great Ken McAullay recounted Farmer's football career and his early aspirations for greatness as a teenager playing for Maddington, before he entered the WAFL.

He attributed much of Farmer's success to his focus.

"When Polly went out to play he was on another planet and on a different wavelength to everyone else," he said.

"He was prepared for war. His intense concentration meant no matter what the opposition said or did to him, he was never distracted.

"He set himself to be the best man on the ground and for his team to win in every game he played."

Members of the public sat in the grandstands at Perth Stadium for the funeral after the venue's River View Room reached capacity. ( ABC News: Jon Sambell )

Mr McAullay also spoke of his friend's prowess in the ruck and with handballing, for which he is credited with revolutionising the game.

"Polly had a wonderful leap and taught himself to jump a split second early," he said.

"As he was coming down his opponent was just starting to go up and 'Poll' got a second lift, meaning he would either go higher or just stay up in the air, grabbing the ball mid-air and firing out a long handpass, all before he had landed."

Mr McAullay said as serious a footballer as Farmer was, he also had a great sense of humour, a quick wit, was a good friend and a kind and loving husband and father.

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Crashing through racial barriers

WA Treasurer and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Ben Wyatt spoke of Farmer's transformative effect on Australian culture and his success during a period when official policies and practices diminished the lives of Aboriginal people.

"Polly crashed through those barriers to become the greatest footballer in the land, and in doing so he inspired so many Aboriginal people to believe in their birthright potential," he said.

"The recognition that he was the best of the best and that he transformed our game as an Aboriginal man from Western Australia imbued so many of us with a sense of understated pride and a collective ownership of his achievements.

"He changed the way Aboriginal people think about themselves and he changed the way society thought about Aboriginal people.

"In this regard Polly was truly a transformational figure."

Foundation was Polly's 'most important legacy'

In 1996 Farmer started the Graham "Polly" Farmer Foundation to help educate young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

"He went beyond sport or football to the need for Aboriginal people to have access to and take part in the whole economic life of the community in which they lived — to be doctors, lawyers tradespeople or whatever they wished to be," foundation vice-president Fred Chaney said.

Senator Pat Dodson was among the prominent faces at the funeral. ( ABC News: Manny Tesconi )

"The success of each student completing school, and going on to further study and of course to employment, is the fulfillment of Polly Farmer's dream and perhaps his most important legacy."

One of the foundation's first students from Roebourne, Jolleen Hicks — now a law graduate and businesswoman — thanked Farmer on behalf of the thousands of children assisted by the foundation.

"It was Mr Farmer's legacy, the Graham 'Polly' Farmer Foundation, which I can say changed my life," she said.