IF GARY Ablett snr was trying to make a low-key entrance, he didn't quite succeed. The reclusive star of so many grand final losses hadn't told his two sons whether he would be coming to watch them until the last minute, worried that word would get out and his presence distract.

But as he slipped into the Cats' rooms last night, Ablett snr ran into the nest of reporters waiting to be let inside. He brushed past with a nervous smile and waited for his boys, his mobile phone running hot with text messages.

He looked absolutely thrilled.

This was a grand final with a family flavour; two football dynasties on show and three sets of brothers. The most famous of them — the Abletts — were in the middle of everything. Afterwards, Gary jnr was keenest to talk, brother Nathan kept away. Premiership medallion dangling from his neck, Gary jnr paid tribute to a father who never experienced the elation of winning a flag. "Put it this way," he said. "I'd cut the medal in half and give him a half."

Their father had advised them this week to go out and enjoy it. When you have won by 119 points, it's the easiest advice in the world to follow.

"It has not exactly been a normal week," Gary the younger said. Had he seen his dad yet? "I saw him briefly but we had to run into a meeting but I'm looking forward to sharing a moment with him."

Nathan led strongly all day and finished with three goals — two from free kicks. Gary powered through tackles, finishing with 20 disposals and a first-quarter goal.

In the Port rooms, South Australian football legend Graham Cornes commiserated with his son Kane, slumped on the carpet, while elder brother Chad stood nearby. "It was just very, very ordinary today," Chad said. "It's a disappointing end to a good year; it really hurts."

The older brother said he had felt great going into the game, as had the entire team. What happened next, he could not explain. He had been the best hand in a humiliated side, leading what little resistance Port could muster in the second quarter and finishing with 37 possessions.

"It's embarrassing and we are humiliated," he said. "So many of our supporters have come over here for this and they deserved better."

Next to Kane sat 29-year-old Peter Burgoyne, exhausted and struggling to hold back tears. He had come close to giving the game away last year, after a serious hamstring injury, but was among his side's best yesterday, gathering 35 touches across half-back. "Our team had a crack," he said, aware that from the stands it had not looked that way. "We've got a young side and hopefully we can learn from this. It really hurts, losing."

Burgoyne said he would definitely play on next year. "My hamstrings feel great there's no excuses. I thought about hanging up the boots last year but I'll keep going."

Little brother Shaun kicked two goals but was largely ineffectual yesterday, shut down by Cameron Ling. "It's good to be out there with your brother but you need all 22 players contributing to get a result and we never had that today," he said.

Asked if it was good to play in a grand final alongside his little brother, Peter recalled 2004, when September glory tasted all the sweeter for the sharing. When the result goes the other way, he observed, it was little help at all.

Even so, the brothers must understand that time together on such a grand stage is the rarest of gifts. Joel Selwood won a premiership yesterday for Geelong, a year since his brother Adam did the same with West Coast. Thousands of kilometres apart, they are lucky to share dinner, let alone grand final glory.

In the Port rooms, another could sympathise. A suited Shane Wakelin tried to commiserate with his identical twin brother Darryl, exhausted after copping a thrashing in his last game of AFL football. As young men, the Wakelins had been here together in 1997 with St Kilda. Then, like the Corneses and Burgoynes now, they must surely have looked forward and seen more opportunities to share success.

As the siren went, Nathan Ablett was on the sideline, his brother on the field. They ran to each other and embraced but for only a brief moment before half a dozen teammates piled on. The party had started. It's great to be out there with your brother, but when you win a grand final by 119 points, for one night at least, everyone wearing hoops is your brother.