Richmond has just won the Grand Final. Their fearsome tattooed cult hero sits on the hallowed MCG turf, fiddling with his boots.

Whatever parallels might unfold in AFL's biggest game on Saturday, there's one detail in the photo that places it firmly in 1973 — and leaves this year's Brownlow winner Dusty Martin looking every bit the clean-cut model professional.

Perfectly centred in the frame, dangling from Robert McGhie's mouth, hangs a cigarette.

Who is Bones?

"My name is Robbie McGhie. They call me Bones," announces McGhie with a bone-crushing handshake.

Forty-four years later, he's back at the MCG to talk about what happened on Grand Final day in 1973.

The nickname comes from his childhood, rather than his exploits as a bruising backman for Richmond and Footscray.

But his tough guy reputation belies years as a lithe and talented junior.

"I didn't think I was too scary. I mean, if you were in the road I'd run over the top of you," says Bones.

"Not to hurt you, just to let you know I was about."

Robert 'Bones' McGhie was a premiership winning footballer with Richmond. ( ABC RN: Jeremy Story Carter )

The story behind the cigarette

Richmond picked up McGhie at the beginning of the 1973 season. The legendary Tommy Hafey was coach and the team was on the up.

Bones proved a fast and fearless addition to the backline. The Tigers made the Grand Final in his first year at the club.

As they had in 1972, Richmond squared off against reigning premiers Carlton. This time, with Bones at centre-half-back alongside team mates Rex Hunt, Royce Hart, Kevin Sheedy and Kevin Bartlett, they won.

Bones McGhie says the Richmond boot-studder used to hand him cigarettes after games. ( ABC RN: Jeremy Story Carter )

Legendary Australian photographer Rennie Ellis was positioned on the sidelines when McGhie slumped to the turf after the final siren.

He was puffing on a cigarette that team boot-studder, Kevin McAvoy, had just handed him.

"He always had a packet of Benson and Hedges ready for me," says Bones.

Ellis's perfectly framed image would prompt a social media frenzy in today's hyper-corporatised football environment. But for Bones, it was perfectly ordinary.

A different time

"There were smokers everywhere. There were about 12 of us in the team who smoked," he says.

"I didn't have a smoke from Wednesday to after the game on Saturday. But from Saturday to Tuesday I'd have quite a few."

Over his 197-game career, Bones also drank with opposition players.

"We used to meet with the North Melbourne boys on Monday — because we didn't train on Mondays — and have a few beers and lunch with them.

"Or we'd stay up in Geelong and have a few beers with those guys, and catch the train home the next day.

"A lot of them are still my mates."

Squinting at the now-iconic photo of himself on the boundary of the MCG, McGhie says it shows how sport, and society, have changed.

"Sport scientists have taken over this game," he says.

And despite the comprehensive evidence of the health risks of smoking, McGhie insists he's fighting fit.

"I smoke and I drink, and I've got nothing wrong with me."

Whatever happens when Richmond's latest cult figure and his team mates burst onto the MCG on Saturday, it's unlikely any photographer will capture another character quite like "Bones" McGhie.