LEGENDARY Melbourne coach Norm Smith has been honoured with a bronze statue in parkland outside the MCG.

The 1.5 times life-size sculpture stands to the north of the stadium - a well-timed dropkick from Jolimont Railway Station - and depicts Smith typically attired in a suit and Melbourne Football Club tie, directing his team with a bent finger.

At the unveiling of the statue on Monday morning, sculptor Lis Johnson said she had attempted to capture Smith's renowned intensity and passion. The consensus view among those who knew Smith is that Johnson has achieved her objective admirably.

Almost on cue, the sun shone at the MCG on an otherwise fresh Melbourne morning. It was just one of a series of feel-good features of an event that paid tribute to one of the game's greatest figures.

It was fitting that the statue was unveiled in Grand Final week, given Smith was full-forward in four Demons premierships (1939-40-41 and 1948) before coaching the club to a further six flags (1955-56-57, 1959, 1960 and 1964).

It was also fitting that the formal part of proceedings was held in the Percy Beames Bar in the MCC Members' area overlooking the 'Avenue of Legends', given Beames had been a premiership teammate and friend of Smith's.

That the ceremony was held just hours before the Brownlow Medal was perhaps also apt. Smith never won a Brownlow, but many believe he might have in 1944 had the medal not been suspended because of World War II. That season Smith reinvented himself as a centreman and won The Herald Star League Footballer award - the highest individual honour available at the time.

The positioning of the statue north of the MCG also provided a coincidental Smith connection - he lived and worked his entire life in the northern suburbs.

Smith, who died from a brain tumour in 1973 at the age of 57, was warmly remembered by Ron Barassi - Smith's greatest onfield weapon and one-time foster son - as a hard but fair taskmaster who had a gift for employing the right tactics at the right time.

Peter Smith - the only child of Norm and Marj Smith - unveiled the statue and was immediately reduced to tears. Smith junior - who played a total of 38 games for Melbourne and Carlton, and turned 65 on Saturday - said he was "very humbled and very proud".

"I never thought this would happen, but it's here forever now," he told AFL.com.au.

"Lis has done a sensational job - it's so life-like. She's captured him perfectly, and turned me into a blubbering mess in the process."

Part of the inscription below the statue reads: "As a coach, he expected no less from his players than from himself - integrity, purpose, drive and putting the team ahead of individuals."

Peter Smith said his father was never one to accept all the glory himself.

"Dad was all about team," he said. "The players he played with, and those he coached, made him what he was and he'd be the first to give them the credit for his success. They've contributed this statue, so hopefully the can get some joy from it, too."

Other Melbourne premiership players in attendance included about 15 premiership players from the Smith era, including dual premiership captain Noel McMahen, Frank 'Bluey' Adams and Brian Dixon, along with three-time Brownlow medallist Bob Skilton, who played under Smith at South Melbourne.

Members of the current Demons hierarchy were also there - among them, chief executive officer Cameron Schwab, coach Mark Neeld, director of sports performance Neil Craig.

The Smith statue is the second to be commissioned by the Melbourne Cricket Club for Australia Post's 'Avenue of Legends'. The first, unveiled last December, honoured cricket great Shane Warne. The series will eventually include at least five statues, extending from the MCC members' entrance and up the hill towards Wellington Parade.