PREMIERSHIP player. Brownlow Medallist. Twice All-Australian captain. Thrice Crows best-and-fairest. Adelaide captain for seven years.

There's not much Mark Ricciuto hasn't achieved in football. The man they called "Roo" was a bull in the Adelaide midfield and later the forward line before he retired last year.

Ricciuto is back in Melbourne for the grand final, something he tries to do every year. This year is the first since he retired, and the 10th since he won his premiership medallion with the Crows.

"It's a good few days, so I usually come over and combine a little bit of work with a bit of fun," he said.

"I was lucky enough to play in a winning grand final in 1998, so it's good to bring back those memories."

It won't come as any surprise that he's got a definite opinion on who will win this year's flag, despite his lack of absolute certainty and listing a string of dangerous Hawks.

"I think Geelong will win, they've been the best side all year, although Hawthorn are probably closer than ever to beating them, I think the Cats will still win," he said.

"Obviously Buddy and (Luke) Hodge and (Sam) Mitchell – he'll probably get tagged by (Cameron) Ling – and obviously (Jarryd) Roughead's a goalkicker, but they have guys that can get under their guard, like (Jordan) Lewis, perhaps (Shane) Crawford and (Brad) Sewell.

“Both teams match-up really well, so it'll be a great game and it should be a close finish."

Having made the case for the Hawks, Ricciuto said he was still tipping the Cats to go back-to-back.

"Geelong have won 42 out of the last 44 and have only dropped one game this year, but as I said before, most people give Hawthorn a better chance than they would have at any other stage of the year, and it wouldn't be a shock if they won."