KEVIN Bartlett, Ron Barassi, Kevin Murray, Bob Skilton and John Nicholls stood proudly on stage at the Palladium Room at Crown on Wednesday night, as indeed, they do every year as proceedings commence for the annual Australian Football Hall of Fame induction dinner.

They are among just 23 official Legends of the game, and the highlight of the night was that another would join their midst. The anticipation ahead of the announcement of Barry Cable was killed somewhat when Fairfax newspapers reported his elevation and even 30 minutes before the start of the function, his name was being freely discussed on a Melbourne radio station.

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But while Cable's induction had become the worst-kept secret in football, there was no less excitement when at 10.14pm, the West Australian football icon, also a dual North Melbourne premiership rover, had his name called out.

Serenaded onto the stage by a jazz ensemble playing the North Melbourne club song and after breaking through a blue and white banner, Cable spoke of the influences on his game, his determination to work on his skills, particularly handball of which he was one of the first great exponents.

"I loved the game," he said when asked what drove him. "I wanted to do the very best I could."

Cable was the straight man at North at a time when there were great characters such as Brent Crosswell, Sam Kekovich and 'Crackers' Keenan. And there was the horrific tractor accident in 1979 that took him 15 months to recover from.

He also told the remarkable story about how in 1993, the year the AFL started down the path of building bridges with the indigenous community in the wake of the Nicky Winmar episode, that he accepted an invitation to toss the coin at the Grand Final and chose to ride his bike over from Western Australia.

There was also praise from Cable for the AFL and its role as a trailblazer with the indigenous community. Cable said much of the abuse he received from over the fence when he played "wasn't nice".

"People shouldn't be abused about where they come from or the colour of their skin," he said.

The 2012 Hall of Fame class was marked by the stars who retired at the end of 2008 and have since spent the mandatory three years out of the game, Shane Crawford and Robert Harvey.

The usually wise-cracking Crawford brought his serious side to his presentation. His former coach at Hawthorn, Peter Schwab said he was the "heart and soul" of the club and it was noted that starting his career at the Hawks with the likes of Dermott Brereton, Gary Ayres and Jason Dunstall, then finishing it with Luke Hodge, Sam Mitchell and Lance Franklin that he had bridged two golden eras. But there were some dark times in between.

"I have seen the worst of a footy club and seen the best," he said.

There was time for one gag. When asked whether Sam Newman might now take him seriously on The Footy Show now that he is a fellow member of the Hall of Fame, Crawford was quick to say, "Absolutely no chance."

Harvey talked about almost having to be dragged kicking and screaming to St Kilda. Trevor Barker and Danny Frawley inspired him and he became perhaps the greatest Saint of them all.

He said his work ethic was his greatest attribute, his ability to mentally break his opponents. "I wasn't greatly skilled or able to run really fast but I was able to work hard," he said.

Wednesday night was also a chance to continue honoring the 2007 retirees, perhaps the most extraordinary retiring class ever. Last year's intake included Michael Voss, James Hird, Mark Ricciuto and Nathan Buckley. Not everyone could get in last year, but they played catch-up this time around, by inducting the equally-worthy Chris Grant and Glenn Archer.

Grant's first coach at Footscray, Terry Wheeler, recalled being looked in the eye and being told by Grant he was ready to wear the famous No.3 jumper at the Whitten Oval.

"A true Bulldog," marvelled Wheeler.

Grant was a champion of the Bulldogs, truly worthy of the jumper, and he spoke brilliantly of the passion he discovered for the club the day he first walked through the doors, just weeks after a proposed merger with Fitzroy had been scuttled late in 1989.

We were lucky to have Archer at the function given his new business 'commitments' that not long ago saw him at Monaco to watch Mark Webber win and later this month will take him to Royal Ascot to hopefully see Black Caviar do the same.

The most candid admissions from the tough and rugged Shinboner of the Century? That he was driven by fear every time he stepped onto the ground and that he initially wanted to play just one game for the North Melbourne under-19s in order to get his coach of the time, Denis Pagan, off his back and then return to Noble Park to play with his mates.

And the Kangaroos might want to get a copy of his induction speech to show the players just before they play Gold Coast on Saturday night. As much as anything, it was a stirring call to arms.

Going back further, Big Bob Johnson was inducted. His Melbourne career was brilliant, 142 games between 1954 and 1961, a period that included seven Grand Finals and five premierships. He then spent a decade playing and coaching in Western Australia and finished with four years in the VFA, where he was a fearsome premiership captain-coach of his original club, Oakleigh.

These were the days when the 'Association', with its live telecasts into Victorian lounge rooms every Sunday afternoon, had a massive following. Big Bad Bob, like Dandenong's Jim 'Frosty' Miller and Port Melbourne's Fred Cook, was a Melbourne sporting institution.

Finally, the high-leaping, high-marking Graham Cornes was also inducted. The pride of South Australia, the six state of origin wins he coached the Croweaters to over Victoria, makes him worthy enough for induction alone in the eyes of many. And as master of ceremonies Tim Lane noted, he is also the first Vietnam veteran to join the Hall of Fame.

But primarily, he was a legend of the Glenelg Football Club, a premiership player and coach of the 'Bays. In a fabulous interview, Cornes acknowledged that having footy to come back to after seven months in Vietnam may have saved his life. He was back playing reserves footy for Glenelg two days after his tour of service was over and the game and the club gave him a direction and focus, which for some others who served with him, was missing in their lives as he sadly noted.

The parochial South Australian also delivered the best line of the night, when he said of the rivalry between the two states, "God bless Victorian football, but thank Christ for South Australia."

You can follow AFL Media senior writer Ashley Browne on Twitter @afl_hashbrowne

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs