Witty quip that secured Robbie for AFL Grand Final

An AFL executive’s witty remark backstage at a Robbie Williams concert helped secure the superstar to play at the Grand Final.

A backstage quip helped secure Robbie Williams for the AFL Grand Final. Picture: Supplied

A witty comment from an AFL executive was the catalyst for securing one of the world’s greatest performers, Robbie Williams, for the AFL grand final.

It was backstage at Rod Laver Arena after ‘An Evening with Robbie’ at the start of May when the AFL’s Kylie Rogers and Brian Walsh met the British superstar alongside Mushroom Group’s Anna Toman and Travis Hogan.

It was about 2am when Robbie Williams posed for a promo picture in his hotel room at Crown. Picture: Liam Pethick

“You are the greatest performer in the world and we are the greatest game … we should do something together,’’ Rogers said.

Williams’ interest was immediately pricked and that sparked a line of conversation which came to a conclusion in June.

The former Take That band member had spent time in Melbourne filming for Better Man, a biopic based on his wild life and times.

After Williams was flown back to perform a private corporate show for 800 guests at the Crown Palladium, he officially signed on to be the pre-game performer at this year’s AFL grand final, which returns to the MCG for the first time since 2019.

The time was roughly 2am when Williams did a promo picture holding a football in his hotel room at Crown.

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan, a big fan of Williams, was overseas when the initial comment was made – away in New York canvassing options for the highly anticipated next AFL TV rights deal.

The wheels were set in motion for one of the biggest coups in grand final entertainment history and the development was welcomed by all at AFL House.

The AFL is expected to announce the halftime entertainment in coming weeks.