It rained on the AFL's Grand Final parade.

But that didn't stop footy fans turning out in their tens of thousands on the eve of Saturday's dream clash between the league's top two teams.

Ironically, the stars of the show, the players, had to huddle under cover ... to avoid catching a cold.

Drenched St Kilda supporters, desperate for a premiership flag after a 43-year drought, lined up six deep behind the sodden barriers in bright red, white and black.

A smaller but no less passionate contingent of Geelong fans, chasing their second flag in three years, frantically waved their navy blue and white colours.

As soaking rain set in, the top of Collins Street was turned into a vast umbrella canopy.

One plaintive cry from five-year-old Saints fan Vassili Mastos summed up the mood: "When are the players coming?" he asked mum, Helen.

"I must be mad," Ms Mastos laughed, with her three children and two nieces in tow, juggling a golf umbrella, pram, while engaging in a tug-of-war with a tangle of football scarves.

It is the first year Vassili, an avid Auskick player, has become interested in footy.

"Just so he gets an idea this is not the same match that he goes to see every week I thought I'd bring him along," Ms Mastos told AAP.

"I thought the weather would have cleared up by now."

Thirty minutes later, a motorcade led by marching bands and bagpipers swept through central Melbourne.

The players proceeded inside cars instead of the traditional open-roof vehicles, so they wouldn't catch a cold.

Geelong forward Steve Johnson said the fans' defiance of the elements proved just how much they loved their footy.

"I didn't train on Monday but there were a lot of supporters down there very keen for us to have some more success, so you've just got to enjoy it and take it all in," he told AAP.

"You might not get these sorts of opportunities ever again so you've just got to enjoy them and soak it up."

Lord Mayor Robert Doyle emphasised that the all-Victorian final was a sporting and cultural highlight of Melbourne's calendar.

"The biggest homegrown championship event of the world," he declared.

"Thank you all for packing our streets today, rain or shine."

Geelong captain Tom Harley and Saints skipper Nick Riewoldt arrived on stage to hold up the 2009 premiership cup.

Harley thanked supporters for their dedication in the conditions.

"A far cry from 28 degrees last year, so a big congratulations to everyone for coming out today," he told the crowd.

A band of devoted Saints followers from Perth - self-described "Western Saints", also known as the Farren Ray fan club - will watch the game from up in the Gods at the MCG.

"He's a Perth boy," they explained, pointing to the Ray badges pinned to their Saints caps.

The fans who met on the internet watch every game of the season together at a Perth pub.

One of their number, Loris Knight, witnessed the Saints' last premiership.

"I was there in `66," she beamed.

"Of course we'll win tomorrow - by about three goals."

A brief appearance on the steps of the Old Treasury building and the players were ushered away, with Mike Brady crooning "Up There Cazaly".

As if on cue, the heavens opened again.

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