But that's exactly what Murray Weideman did.

The Collingwood great and 1966 Albury premiership coach died on Wednesday night, a day after his 85^th birthday.

Weideman played 180 VFL games for Collingwood and booted 262 goals.

He was on the bench for Collingwood in the 1953 premiership against Geelong and was acting captain when the Magpies defeated Melbourne in the 1958 grand final after skipper Frank Tuck was ruled out with injury.

Weideman finished with two majors in the three-goal victory.

Nicknamed 'The Enforcer' for his hard approach to football, Weideman was a three-time best and fairest winner at Collingwood and also led the goal-kicking on three occasions.

He went on to captain Collingwood from 1960 until his retirement in 1963.

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Weideman had a brief stint as a professional wrestler in 1964, before he made the move to the Border to coach Albury in 1965.

Success would come in his second year as the Tigers demolished Wangaratta by nine goals to win the 1966 Ovens and Murray premiership, 10 years after the club's last flag in 1956.

Merv King played in the side and recalls members of the Collingwood cheer squad with banners behind the goals after they'd booked a carriage on the train from Melbourne to support Weideman on grand final day.

"He was known as 'The Enforcer' and he was terrific bloke to play beside," King said.

"I remember against Benalla one day I was running around giving a bit of cheek, but this bloke from Benalla had enough of me and grabbed me by the throat.

"All of a sudden Murray said to him 'if you don't put him down, you'll finish up on the other side of the fence', so I got even cheekier after that.

"In that grand final, we won it by nine goals or so and he was running around knocking blokes over and had blokes looking over their shoulder all day.

"He had such a presence on the ground."

King said Weideman predominantly played in the ruck at Albury but could also win games off his own boot as a forward.

"Not only was he an enforcer, he could play. You don't become captain of Collingwood if you can't play," King said.

"When he was appointed coach in 1965, it was a real coup to get a bloke like him from Melbourne to play for a country club.

"I'm sure he wouldn't have done it for nothing, but to get a bloke like him out of Melbourne was like getting Bob Rose to Wang Rovers."

But King revealed he wasn't a typical senior coach.

"He was never one to train. We'd be doing laps and he'd walk around the cricket pitch watching us," King said.

"When the balls came out he'd have a kick, but he'd never do any running.

"But he was the lure. I was in the army out at Bandiana and I think there was five of us out there who were all playing for Albury because of Murray Weideman's name.

"He was a different sort of a cat and didn't mix much with the players. He'd have a drink with you after the game, but he wasn't one to mingle with the players too much.

"He led by example on the ground rather than off it."

Weideman left Albury after the 1967 season and went on to coach West Adelaide in the SANFL, before a famous return to Victoria Park.

He coached Collingwood in 1975 and 1976 and was replaced by Tom Hafey in 1977.

His son Mark followed in his footsteps and played 28 times for Collingwood in the 1980s, while grandson, Sam, has 44 AFL games to his name at Melbourne since he was drafted in 2015.

Weideman has been recognised as a Collingwood life member and featured in the club's Team of the Century.

He joined the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2007.