Damien Hardwick had a gatecrasher towards the end of his AFL grand final media conference.
The door to the room burst open and a familiar voice shouted "could you hurry up, lad?"
Hardwick looked over, laughed and yelled back: "I've only got three (questions) to go, mate."
The voice responded "there's a little frothy (waiting for you)."
It was Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson - one of Hardwick's best friends.
Hardwick, Clarkson and their wives had dinner on Friday night and the Hawks' coach was welcomed into the Richmond change rooms for a beer post-match.
This is the second-successive season a Clarkson alumni has coached a team to a premiership.
Luke Beveridge, another former Hawthorn assistant coach, tasted glory last year with the Western Bulldogs.
But the strength of his friendship with Hardwick meant this success was even more special for Clarkson.
Hardwick was an assistant at Hawthorn when Clarkson coached the first of his four premierships, in 2008.
Then, as on Saturday, it was an upset result and Hardwick said there were striking similarities between the two flags.
I was speaking to Clarko on Monday night ... the eeriness (compared) to the 2008 Hawks," Hardwick said.
"Back in 2008, the Hawks lost to Richmond around round 20 and then played their best football.
"We lost to Geelong, round (21) , and then just went whack, whack, whack, whack, whack, whack.
"We learned a lot of lessons from the games we lost and we played our best footy when it mattered most."
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