An electrician who used alcohol to relax has been jailed for a cowardly, drunken attack on a patron in a hotel after drinking all day during last years AFL Grand Final.

A judge who repeatedly watched CCTV footage of Richard John Clarke's frenzied attack has described his behaviour as "despicable" and the event as frightening.

Judge Lance Pilgrim saw Clarke, 31, in a Sydney Swans jumper, become entangled with Aaron Lloyd, then straddle and punch him nine times in three or four seconds while on the floor of the TAB area at Beretta's Langwarrin Hotel.

Judge Pilgrim criticised hotel management and the security guards for not having ejected the men after an earlier incident between them.