ROD Grinter has certainly carved himself a legacy throughout football circles.

The man who holds the Melbourne Football Club record for being the most reported (11 times) and suspended player (31 weeks) in its history, he sat down as part of the ‘Yesterday, today and tomorrow’ series to reflect on his career and the era he played in.

“It was turning [into] a much more professional game when I joined in the ‘80s,” he said.

“On a Friday night, I always liked to have a couple of beers, just to relax myself, so it would be a couple of stubbies on a Friday night after a bowl of pasta,” Grinter said, when reflecting on his dietary habits during his playing days.

Certainly the consumption of a beer or two is not a trait of a modern-day footballer, but neither is playing in conditions that could be deemed unacceptable by AFL standards.

“I remember vividly down at Moorabbin playing against St Kilda, the whole ground was pretty much a bog heap. You run out and your boots would be covered in mud everywhere you went and to see what the guys are playing on now – it’s amazing. If there’s a bit of sand on it, they complain about it,” he said with a wry smile.

He is certainly a character in the club’s history, but it’s his memories of other great Melbourne figures that stick in his mind the most.

“It would be 40 degrees and we would be training really hard doing long runs or 10 km runs … and all dying of thirst basically [because] ‘Barass’ [Ron Barrassi] saw that as a sign of weakness, if he allowed us to have a drink.

“If you compare that to now, he’d be dragged over the coals, well and truly by the dietitians.”