LONG-TIME friend and mentor Greg Miller visited Andrew Krakouer in Wooroloo Prison in February 2009 when the football world was certain that a prodigious talent had been lost to the game.

It was a visit that took place more than six months before Krakouer's release from prison; more than a year before he would play in the WAFL again with Swan Districts; and more than 18 months before he won the 2010 Sandover Medal, sparking a fairytale return to the AFL.

Still, at a time when few believed Krakouer could resurrect his career at the elite level, it was a visit that filled Miller with hope.

The former North Melbourne chief executive and Richmond administrator goes back a long way with Krakouer, whose presence in Collingwood's Grand Final team is perhaps the football story of the year.

He watched him grow up in the Kangaroos' changerooms during father Jim and uncle Phil's careers at the club, and he was on hand for the majority of his 102 games at Richmond between 2001 and 2007.

But when Krakouer was delisted by the Tigers at the end of 2007, with much publicised assault charges hanging over his head, it was supposed to mark the end of an unfulfilled AFL career.

Early in 2009, Miller saw something else.

"I could see where he was headed," Miller said. "He wanted to utilise the experience to help others and he wanted to utilise the experience to springboard his own life.

"So that moment wasn't when he got out, it was when he was inside."

Miller, who played a key role managing Krakouer's return to the AFL with Collingwood, describes his path to Saturday's Grand Final as a "fairytale".

Former Richmond teammate Matthew Richardson, who has watched Krakouer often this year from his vantage point in the media, agrees.
 
"If they were to win the Grand Final I think it would be one of the great sporting stories," Richardson said.

"I think it's just an amazing story how he's been able to come back from adversity and be involved in the success of Collingwood this year.

"Not only get involved, but become a better player and be a really significant part of the team."

Krakouer has played all but two games this season (rounds five and 22), averaging 15 disposals, kicking 32 goals and taking the Mark of the Year against Adelaide in round nine.  

It has been a simply remarkable return to the elite level and another chapter in the 28-year-old's fascinating story.

With his daughters Tekia and Allira and nephew Zac by his side in Friday's Grand Final parade, and sharing a car with close friend Leon Davis, Krakouer described his personal comeback as "unbelievable".

"It's pretty emotional the week, just being here," he said. "It's been a long journey, so to come through and now be a sleep away from a Grand Final is something very exciting."
 
Krakouer was first recruited to the AFL by Richmond with pick No.41 in the 2000 National Draft, with the Tigers taking a punt on the 17-year-old before he had played any representative football.

The brave move trumped North Melbourne, which would have considered recruiting the Clontarf Academy youngster to his father's club one year later.   

The Kangaroos could have used pick No.30 that year to bring him in a father-son selection, instead opting for Sav Rocca, who played 101 matches for club after a nine-year and 156-game career at Collingwood.    

But they weren't the only club to overlook him then, and there were others that overlooked him again when he set about launching his comeback in the WAFL.

Swan Districts didn't, and club president Peter Harvey will be at the MCG on Saturday hoping to see "something magical".   

The 2010 WAFL premiers have played a major role in Krakouer's turnaround, but the most significant checkpoint in Harvey's view was not his first game at the club, nor was it his return to the AFL.

It was his first day working alongside former West Coast champion Peter Matera as a full-time development officer when he re-joined the club late in 2009.

"It was imperative for us that he was comfortable back in a working environment and that he was comfortable being around his peers," Harvey said.

"He was very unsure about himself and where he fitted back into society.

"When he came out of jail we made sure that he had a job to go to and made sure he was in a safe environment."

Harvey says Swan Districts as a club is excited and proud of the player that led them so brilliantly to last year's WAFL premiership, with Krakouer leaving a significant footprint on the club in just 32 games (he played nine games in 2008).

His performance in the 2010 WAFL Grand Final was enormous, amassing 40 possessions and booting four goals (including the match-winner) to cap a superb season that saw him awarded the Sandover Medal as the league's best and fairest player.

Harvey says Krakouer was ready to play league football the day he was released from prison, having kept himself in "rippling condition".

Key people at Swan Districts had no doubt he would make it back at WAFL level, but halfway through 2010, something bigger was brewing.

"We all started to think, 'Hang on, this guy is a better footballer now than what he was in his first 100 games at Richmond'," Harvey said.

"Then we all started to think that the door is still ajar for him.

"It was his whole demeanour and his attitude, and then the football that he was playing.

"Halfway through 2010, Andrew was very relaxed, he was back to his old self, his body was right, and he was playing outstanding footy.

"Things in his life had turned around completely and were going in a positive direction."

Krakouer's form that season led Collingwood to secure him with pick No.25 in the 2010 NAB AFL Draft (via a Trade Week deal with Gold Coast), and his impact at the club has been such that coach Mick Malthouse described his comeback as one of the greatest football stories he had seen in his long coaching career.
 
Richardson remembers marvelling at Krakouer's mercurial ability at Richmond, noting to teammates that he "picked the ball up off the ground with a handle".  

But that natural ability was never combined with a full fitness base at Tigerland. It has been at Collingwood.

"I've always said he was the best crumbing player that I played with, one of the best crumbers that I've seen, so he always had that ability," Richardson said.

"But he never got himself fit enough to be able to do a lot more than what he was doing.

"He's obviously got himself a lot fitter and he's able to produce it on a regular basis now. That's allowed him to move up the ground a little bit more and become more consistent."

If Krakouer has achieved consistency of performance this season, it hasn't stopped him pulling off the remarkable.
 
As well as his Mark of the Year winner, there has been a steady stream of game-breaking goals that make him a popular pick for Saturday's Norm Smith Medal.

Davis, who is hoping to achieve premiership success with his great mate, believes Krakouer could be poised for great things on Saturday.

"He's capable of doing anything on a footy field, so hopefully he brings that to the table," Davis said. "That's the type of player he is."