DERMOTT Brereton shifts uncomfortably in his seat as he admits that while Hawthorn was a happy team in the 1980s and early 1990s, it was also a collection of men that would do anything to win a game of football.

"Back in those days, racial vilification … Gee, I don't think the two words had ever been used together," Brereton says.

"So we went and gave it to Chris Lewis."

Brereton is speaking about the torrent of racial abuse the Hawks directed at West Coast's star indigenous midfielder in the 1991 AFL Grand Final at Waverley Park.

What Lewis endured is the revelation of the third instalment of The Final Story, the four-part documentary series produced by AFL Media filmmakers Peter Dickson and Wayne Dyer. The series examines the legacies of the 1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001 Grand Finals.

"It cut pretty deep," Lewis admits. "I was only a young boy, trying to go out and do what I did best. I had never really experienced any of that sort of stuff until I played AFL.

"The crowd were [also] quite vocal in that area, which was always a bit upsetting."

Yet the real tragedy of his career is that Lewis endured similar abuse on a weekly basis.

"Chris Lewis' greatest strength was being able to cope with that type of pressure, which was the norm in those days," recalls his former teammate Scott Watters.

Then-Eagles coach Mick Malthouse describes the abuse Lewis copped from the Hawthorn players as "absolutely disgraceful".

"I don't think eras have anything to do with it," Malthouse continues. "Chris was reported on a couple of occasions. In my mind, I have no doubt he was vilified.
 
"We accepted it, and we have got a lot to pay for that, as a nation, as a league and as individuals.

"Football wore him down. From a young man, when I first went to that football club, who had a beautiful big smile, that became more and more tested through his career."

Lewis still regrets that neither he nor the Eagles tried to hold the Hawks to account for what they did.

"I was a little bit disappointed that we probably didn't, as a club, push the issue a little bit further," he reflects. "I think it was one of those areas that we didn't want to go to because it was a bit prickly."

Hawthorn won the 1991 Grand Final by 53 points after kicking eight goals with the breeze in the final quarter.

Although Brereton cherishes his premiership medal, he has struggled to come to terms with his role in the targeting of Lewis.

"Only now, in this day and age, do we understand what we've done," he says.

"I've apologised to Chris Lewis since. [I've got a] pretty dark memory of it. It's something I'm not proud of."

Lewis says: "If Dermie needs to come out and say that to make himself feel better, then good on him.

"[It's] probably a recognition and admission of a bloke who's fair dinkum about understanding what he may have done in the past, and trying to right a wrong."

Watters is thankful Essendon's Michael Long took a stand on the issue four years later, which led to the introduction of the AFL's stringent racial and religious vilification rules.

"We look now and wonder, 'How did that happen?' Thank god we've improved."

The Final Story — 20 Years On will be screened by Channel Nine on Sunday, September 18. See local guides for details.