Mike Brady ditches walking stick to sing Up There Cazaly at grand final

Mike Brady left his walking stick in the tunnel and walked out to sing Up There Cazaly at the AFL grand final on September 26.

The 78-year-old performed during the retiree motorcade at the MCG. It was eight months after doctors doubted he would walk again. AFL

The injury happened in January 2026 on an evening walk near his Great Ocean Road home. Brady fell and fractured his leg, ankle and foot in 12 places. ABC News

He knew it was bad straight away. He twisted his own ankle back into place and dragged himself to a nearby fire station for help.

His doctor told him not to push himself. Walking anytime soon looked unlikely.

Then the AFL called to ask if he could still do grand final day. Brady told them to try and stop him, saying he would crawl on stage if he had to.

He spent five months in hospital after the fall. He came home in a wheelchair.

Recovery was slow. The wheelchair gave way to crutches. The crutches gave way to a walking stick, which he still mostly uses.

For the grand final, the stick stayed backstage. He walked out unaided.

It was a full-circle moment. Brady first sang Up There Cazaly at the 1979 VFL grand final, introduced by John Farnham. The VFL is the Victorian Football League, the competition that became the national AFL in 1990.

His path there was unlikely. Brady moved to Melbourne from England at age 11. He had never sat through a full game when league officials asked him to write a tune to market the VFL.

He wrote it as an advertising jingle. It stuck. The song is now a fixture of grand final day, sung before the biggest crowd of the footy year. ABC News

What makes this stand out is the simplicity of it. No backing track trick. No chair on stage. Just a songwriter in his late 70s, on his feet, singing the song he has sung for 47 years.