The smile he had as he lined up a shot at goal in the biggest game of his short football career, the smile which screamed "I belong here".

Here, in front of 100,014 people at a heaving MCG on one of the biggest days on the Australian sporting calendar.

Far removed from being off contract with eight senior games to his name before a ball had been bounced in March, when something had to give for the archetypal project player.

Today, the 23-year-old Richmond Tigers ruckman is a premiership player.

The crowning moment in Soldo's short career to date came in a 17.12 (114) to 3.7 (25) triumph over the GWS Giants in the AFL grand final at the MCG on Saturday.

Dustin Martin kicked four goals en route to his second Norm Smith Medal in three years, which came after he was judged best afield by all five members of the judging panel.

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Jack Riewoldt bagged five. Marlion Pickett nabbed one in front of a largely pro-Richmond crowd of 100,014. It was a debut few could have ever imagined for Pickett while sitting inside Wooroloo prison.

It is Richmond's biggest win in a premiership decider, and the third highest margin in grand final history.

For the Giants, the biggest day in the young franchise's life was among its most forgettable on the scoreboard as they registered a club record low of 25 points.

The Tigers have gone some way towards burying the frustration of their missed opportunity last year. For a loss on this day would have seen them go from dynasty to underachievers.

Soldo finished with 20 hit outs, seven disposals and one goal, quickly easing into the contest after he went straight over the top of an early mark attempt.

"Soldo, on that occasion, should have swallowed that," they said in the commentary box late in the opening term. It mattered little, for Daniel Rioli's goal on the siren put the Tigers up by seven at the first break.

His time would come. With little more than 10 seconds remaining in the third term, Soldo spun the ball in his hands with a smile stretched across his face.

"He's a good set shot, the big fella," a famous voice rings out through televisions across the nation.

Of course, Soldo made the most of this opportunity.

But for every tale of elation comes one of heartbreak. This year it belongs to Canberra's adopted football team, the Giants from Sydney's west.

And more acutely, it was Canberra-born Giants captain Phil Davis.

You trust him because he is a senior player. You trust him because he is your captain. You trust him because he is one of the premier defenders in the competition.

But whether Davis should have been on the park is a question for the ages. He clearly struggled with the calf injury that had plagued him over the past week and left the Giants short of a step in defence.

Then there was former Eastlake Demons player Harry Himmelberg - so often in the right place at the right time, yet unable to make a huge impact like so many of his teammates.

"I don't want to make any excuses. It was a busy week just trying to get myself up to play," Davis said on Channel Seven in the aftermath.

"I was proud to be a part of the Giants' first one, but disappointed to lead the team the way we did today.

"From our point of view, we thought we handled the week really well. We thought the first quarter we handled really well, we let a couple of late ones in and it just got ugly.

"That's the most disappointing thing, we thought we were a genuine chance of winning ... but to lose by 90 points is pretty demoralising."

Yet still, "I'm so proud of my whole football club".

"I look at Cal Ward and it makes me emotional, he is the heart and soul of the club and we lost him early in the year, and then we lost [Stephen Coniglio] as well, I thought about [Brett Deledio] so much," Davis said.

"They all deserve more. We had to fight through so many different things, whether it be Lachie [Whitfield's] appendix last week or whatever it is, we've had to keep finding different paths.

"That's the glue that will hold the club together. Hopefully we can get a bit of luck and improve, because we want to be back."