Keith Greig

Keith Southby Greig MBE (born 23 October 1951) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Red-haired and pale-skinned, Greig was renowned for his poise and ball handling skills. He could also take spectacular high marks. Greig played for much of his career on the wing, but in later years often played at half back.

Grieg played his junior football for Brunswick in the Victorian Football Association, and in 1968 he won the Gillon Medal as the best and fairest in the VFA Thirds competition. He was recruited to the VFL by North Melbourne, and at the age of 19. From the beginning his technical brilliance did not go unnoticed, and he was picked for his first State Representative game after only having played nine senior VFL matches. Greig went on to represent the Big V 12 more times over his career, and was state captain in 1978.

In 1973, he beat Richmond's Kevin Bartlett to win the Brownlow Medal with 27 votes. In 1974, he became only the eighth player in VFL history to win the Brownlow twice, again with 27 votes, and the fifth player to win it back-to-back. North made it to the 1974 VFL Grand Final, only their second appearance in a Grand Final. Unfortunately they would lose to Richmond, but Greig was one of North's best players.

The following year, North finally broke through for their first VFL premiership and again, Greig was among North's best players. Earlier in the year, he had been awarded membership of the Order of the British Empire for his services to football. With the retirement of Barry Davis, Greig was appointed club captain at the start of the 1976 VFL season. But it was a position he did not relish, and he resigned from the captaincy at the end of 1979, partly as a result of the relationship break down with coach Ron Barassi.