Mathew Stokes has always been cheeky.

But it was that cheekiness that got him in hot water with his Dad John sometime after the 2007 Grand Final where the 200 game Cat won the first of his two premiership medals with Geelong.

“He came to a game and there was 100,000 people at the 2007 Grand Final, which is pretty much the equivalent to whole of Darwin's population,” Stokes told the To The Final Bell podcast. 

“I said something smart alec back to him about the (premiership) medal and he said, 'I'll give you one bit of advice son. One day that crowd will disappear and the only person that will be looking at you is the person in the mirror, and you've got be happy with that person'. 

That firm fatherly advice has paved a road back to the club he loves in a very different role some 15 years later where Stokes, through his Infrastructure Services Company Larrakia Bilirra will sponsor the pre-game and half-time performance of ARIA award-winning artist Budjerah at GMHBA Stadium this weekend.

The event will take place as part of Sir Doug Nicholls Round, the League’s annual celebration of First Nations culture and players.

Stokes said that he’s always been appreciative of the opportunity the club gave him when he was drafted back in 2005, and to be able to do something for the club in return is something that is clearly very important to him.

“I come from a pretty disadvantaged background in the sense of.. Mum and Dad didn't have too much when it came to finances,” he said. 

“We lived in a housing commission home, but the one thing they always gave me was love and support and that's one thing I love about my childhood, nothing but memories of laughter and smiling.

“So, to be able to be in a position where I've finished football, the club gave me that platform, also to be a strong person, to be able to have a successful business and be able to give back to the football club and something I'm pretty proud of to be honest.” 

Stokes acknowledges he had some ups and down across his football career but is adamant he wouldn’t change a thing; those experiences making him the person he is today. 

“There's lessons to be learned in every experience in life.  For me, I look back with joy.. a lot of people talk about, you've had a couple of lows but for me it is part of who you are and the makings of you and understanding the gift of being able to play AFL footy. 

For the cheeky kid from Darwin to go from the ‘short, chubby man’ as then coach Bomber Thompson apparently labelled him when he walked in the door in late 2005, to the proud Larrakia man giving back to his beloved football club the way he is this weekend, it’s clear that his Dad’s advice all of those years ago has stuck. 

“It’s something that I've held onto for a long, long time and it's something that I continue to think about daily.”