LEGENDARY coach Allan Jeans has been given a memorable final farewell in a packed MCC Members' Dining Room at the MCG on Wednesday.

Family, friends, current players and coaches, champions of the premiership teams he coached and other football identities turned out to pay their last respects to Jeans, who died last week after a long illness, aged 77.

Jeans' son Peter described how his father's dual careers as a policeman and football coach were his passion, but "the love of his family was his lifeblood".

Peter spoke fondly of family holidays on the Murray River, and of the great love Jeans had for his 10 grandchildren.

St Kilda 1966 premiership player Ross Smith gave an address on behalf of the Saints, who Jeans coached to their only flag.

With many of the heroes of that famous one-point victory over Collingwood looking on, including Barry Breen, Kevin 'Cowboy' Neale, Ian Cooper and Rodger Head, Smith described Jeans as "a master coach".

"He was not just a great football coach, but also a wonderful life coach," Smith said.

Smith remembered how Jeans had moulded his St Kilda teams to fit his own image - "disciplined, determined, courageous, and with a never-say-day attitude."

He described Jeans as a meticulous planner, relaying how the great coach designed the program and order of service for his own funeral in the lead-up to his passing, including every detail except the date.

Four-time Hawthorn premiership player John Kennedy Jnr spoke on behalf of the Hawks, who Jeans led to flags in 1983, 1986 and 1989.

In an upbeat and often funny tribute, Kennedy remembered the outside perception of the coaching legend as a "dour and conservative man", someone who "loved sucking lemons for fun".

But, he said, the real 'Yabby' was far different.

With Hawks champions including Peter Hudson, Leigh Matthews, Michael Tuck, Dermott Brereton, Jason Dunstall, Gary Ayres, Chris Langford and John Platten in the packed auditorium, Kennedy recalled some of Jeans' more memorable 'sprays'.

One directed at Russell 'Fly' Morris after a particularly bad first quarter against Richmond at the MCG drew laughter from the audience.

"He pointed at him and said, 'Fly, you are playing on a guy who has taken 15 marks in his entire career, and half of those he's just taken on you in that quarter. LIFT son!'," Kennedy said.

Melbourne CEO Cameron Schwab, representing Richmond, where he was general manager during Jeans' year as Tigers coach in 1992, told of a similar reality check delivered to young half-back Tim Powell.

Powell had won praise from Jeans for playing an excellent match against Collingwood, to which Powell responded by asking why he wasn't given a go at manning Magpies forward Peter Daicos, who had bagged seven goals in a best on ground display.

"You're a car salesman, aren't you son?" Schwab recalled Jeans as telling Powell.

"Well, let me put this in terms you'll understand.

"You are a Holden, and Daicos is a Mercedes Benz.

"Do you understand now, son?"

Jeans, in a hearse bearing number plates ‘Hawks 83 86 89’ on the front and 'Saints 66' on the back, then made one final journey onto the MCG turf, given a guard of honour by his premiership players and a standing ovation from those looking on from the members' stand.

As Jeans departed for the last time, the players hugged and shook hands, united in their sense of loss for a man Kennedy described as "the one person, outside our parents, who had the greatest influence on the way we operate today."