* Denotes team represented in final

Perhaps the most celebrated cases of players breaking their finals drought in the twilight of their careers are Robbie Flower and Bob Skilton.

Flower amassed a record 270 games for Melbourne before making his first September appearance in 1987, his last season.

The then 32-year-old skipper performed superbly in September, kicking bags of five and four goals from a half-forward flank in big wins over North Melbourne and the Sydney Swans, before suffering a dislocated shoulder in a narrow preliminary final loss to Hawthorn.

It's doubtful Flower would have played if the Demons made the Grand Final.

AFL Legend Skilton, a triple Brownlow medallist and nine-time Swans best and fairest winner, played 218 games before leading South Melbourne in his one and only finals appearance in his second-last season of 1970. In the first-semi-final the Swans led St Kilda by five points at half-time before going down by 53 points.

Skilton, then 31, had 20 kicks and was one of his team's best players.

Both greats expressed their joy for Newman, who they praised as both a player and leader.

"It's a wonderful time – one of the highlights of your life – and I'm just rapt he'll finally get to experience it," Skilton said.

The experiences of Skilton and Flower could prove instructive for Newman.

The duo had previously represented Victoria but nothing could have prepared them for the roar of massive September crowds. Skilton was rattled momentarily by the din of 104,239 people at the MCG, having only rarely played before more than 40,000 previously.

"I'd never experienced anything like those first couple of minutes in that final," Skilton said. "That's why I can understand why players can be a bit fumbly early. I added one to the crowd figure for a while. But you soon settle down."

However, they believe this won't be an issue for Newman, who will be well conditioned to playing before big crowds at the MCG.

And unlike Flower, whose Demons only snatched a top-five spot in a dramatic final round, Newman has had longer to prepare for his September debut.

The old champs say Newman will naturally be nervous and excited, and determined to capitalise on an opportunity that might never present itself again, but expect him to handle the occasion with his usual aplomb.

"Chris is a class footballer and certainly well equipped to cope with anything that's thrown his way in a final," Flower said.

"As an experienced player, you know there are certain things you need to do and you do them automatically regardless of whether it's a final or any other game, and Chris is the type of disciplined, team player who knows what to do just through experience.

"Yes, the emotion of the day can be a big factor, but it can also be a positive thing. It pretty quickly becomes just another game, albeit a very important one, and one that you have to win."

Skilton was confident Newman would be "as good as gold" on the big stage.

"We all love him for the way he goes about his footy and I've got no doubt we'll see the same Chris Newman we've always seen. He doesn't play any different to when he was captain – he still leads by example. I don’t think I've ever seen him play a bad game, and I don’t expect him to start now."

Skilton said the best advice he could give would be for Newman to simply "be himself, and continue to do whatever works for him because it's taken him this far. I'd be trying like mad to make my routine the same as always".

Skilton also made the point that Newman wouldn’t be the only Tiger who had been starved of finals.

"You've got all your mates alongside you who have gone through the same thing with you, even though they haven’t played as many games. so you’re all in it together. That's one of the many wonderful things about team sport," he said.

Current players – most games without a final
232 – Chris Newman (Rich)
194 – Brett Deledio (Rich)
172 – Shane Tuck (Rich)
145 – Daniel Jackson (Rich)
140 – Jay Schulz (Rich/PA)
136 – Nathan Foley (Rich)
133 – Jack Riewoldt (Rich)
128 – Shane Edwards (Rich)
124 – Richard Tambling (Rich/Adel)
119 – Andrew Raines (Rich/BL)
118 – James Frawley (Melb)
117 – Lynden Dunn (Melb)
107 – Trent Cotchin (Rich)
105 – Luke McGuane (Rich)
105 – Matt White (Rich)
104 – Jake King (Rich)
101 – Colin Garland (Melb)

Twitter: @AFL_BenCollins