LATE on Friday night, Ben Graham will pour himself a strong mug of coffee, crank up the computer in his Long Island home, and log on to the AFL website to follow Geelong's progress in the grand final.

For the former Cats skipper, now in his third season as a punter with NFL club the New York Jets, first bounce at the MCG will work out to be 12.30am Saturday, and he intends to listen to the match and then snatch a few hours' sleep before heading off to Jets training later that morning.

"I'll definitely be listening," Graham said, adding that wife Katie was nearly eight months pregnant with their third child, and "she's up most of the night anyway, so we'll be up listening to it, cheering the boys on."

The 33-year-old, who rather unexpectedly left Kardinia Park at the end of 2004 after 219 matches, would love to be in Melbourne this weekend. He laughingly suggested: "I talked to a few friends to see if I could borrow their private jet to get me from the MCG back to Buffalo to play on Sunday …"

Graham has closely monitored the Cats' progress via the internet this season — "the boys have had a great year, they've won every award known to man" — and watches video highlights on the internet each week.

"If I was to be anywhere in the world other than New York this week, it would be in the thick of it in Geelong," he said, hastily adding that he had no regrets about switching codes.

"If you're asking whether at my age (33) could I still be playing, the answer is no way. The game has changed and it's faster. So although sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I'd stayed on, I still wouldn't change anything for the world right now."

Graham, the Cats' 1999 club champion, remains in regular contact with many Geelong players, including Matthew Scarlett, Cam Mooney and Steve Johnson. He played alongside three-quarters of the 2007 team, and hopes to speak to those men individually in the next few days.

He has already sent a couple of messages of congratulations to Jimmy Bartel after his Brownlow Medal win on Monday.

"It was just fantastic," Graham said. "Katie and I listened to the Brownlow live — it felt like we were actually there — and I was so proud of him. I was captain when he first started playing and it was just really clear that he was going to succeed because of his work ethic and his toughness.

"I mean there'd be times at training where he'd be at the bottom of the pack of teammates, fighting his way out with his elbows. He has always had that competitive edge that was going to get him a long way."

Graham said many of the Geelong players were "big on the NFL now", and even had entered internet NFL fantasy football leagues. Conversely, many of his Jets' teammates were following Geelong's progress this year.

On the eve of New York's most recent match, a 31-28 win over the Miami Dolphins, he found himself chatting to Jets' teammates around the dinner table about the Cats, marvelling that Tom Lonergan had returned to football after having a kidney removed, and had produced a best-afield display in the VFL grand final.

"The (Jets) guys thought that was a fair effort. I talk to them about Geelong all the time, and now they're always asking me how the boys are going. They were all over the (15-match) winning streak, and now they know most of the Geelong boys by name."

Nevertheless, not many in New York realised that a crowd of 100,000 would be at this Saturday's decider, nor its context in Australian culture.

"I've had to explain it to a few in American terms, because when I say Geelong's in the grand final, they don't know what 'grand final' means. So it's been 'Geelong's in the Super Bowl' so that everyone understands the significance. On Saturday morning when I get to the club, the Jets guys will be pestering me about who won."

Naturally, Graham predicts a Geelong win.

"I reckon it will be really tight in the first half, but Geelong will kick clear to win by six goals."