Perry, 51, played for the Magpies in the 1977 replay against North Melbourne after missing the drawn grand final.

Collingwood and St Kilda will return to the MCG on Saturday following the third drawn grand final in VFL and AFL history.

Perry, who has lived in Horsham since 1983, said calls for extra time to decide the match were unnecessary.

"I definitely believe in the replay. Another five or 10 minutes isn't doing justice to the players," Perry said.

"I can't see too many negatives with the replay. They are the rules, why meddle with them?"

Perry played four seasons with Collingwood for 21 career matches.

The Stawell product made his debut in 1976 before returning to his home club in 1979.

"In 1979 I played at Stawell and Collingwood coach Tom Hafey convinced me over summer to give it another go," Perry said.

"In 1980 I played the first eight games for Collingwood and did a knee and that put an end to my league career."

Knee injuries plagued Perry throughout his time at Victoria Park and Doug Gott ? the player he replaced in the grand final replay ? took his spot weeks from the finals in 1977.

"Gott replaced me earlier in the year, in round 17 or 18, because I strained a medial ligament at training," Perry said.

"Gott took my spot in the back pocket.

"I hadn't played football for three weeks before the grand final and Gott had sealed his position and ironically he did his knee.

"We got a grand final each."

Perry watched the drawn grand final from the MCG grand stands with his family.

"Everyone was dumbfounded as we were on Saturday," he said.

"There's a buzz around the ground to be there, it doesn't matter whether you support the team."

Perry said the build up for both weeks was massive.

He trained before the grand final and said the atmosphere - with thousands of fans watching - was overwhelming.

"It was a massive build-up at the club. It's one exciting time for a fella only in his second year in Melbourne," Perry said.

"You practice so many times and go into auto pilot."

Perry, who also played for Wodonga in the Ovens and Murray league and was playing coach at Horsham United, watched Saturday's draw live and is hopeful of returning to the MCG for the replay.

He said the Magpies had been the best team all season and deserved to win.