Gerry Griffiths had, perhaps more than any other single person, been the driving force behind the introduction and development of AFL in the North West. And McKenzie, the long-time Tamworth Swans president, knew immediately that he deserved a place on the list.

"We would not be playing football in this region without Gerry, it's as simple as that," McKenzie said.

On Wednesday, after several years of waiting, friends and family of Griffiths were finally vindicated when AFL NSW released its list of the first 100 inductees into its Hall of Fame.

His wife, Veronica, remained involved with the Tamworth Swans even after Gerry's untimely passing in 2016.

"It is [incredible]," she said.

"I told the kids, not Matthew yet, because he's in Canada, but I told the others. And Emily said 'We're just really proud'. But I said 'You all should be really proud too'.

"They sacrificed their time for Gerry to be able to do it."

Already deeply involved in the Tamworth community as a volunteer within school, church, and cricket communities to name but a few, Gerry did not initially intend to lead the charge to reintroduce AFL to the North West when he left for a meeting on the topic in 1996.

But, as his wife Veronica found out several weeks later, he had become the president of the committee.

He served in that capacity for 13 years, 20 years as a whole on the league executive, and umpired local games throughout until he passed.

After meeting McKenzie in 2005, the pair quickly became fast friends. This, both Veronica said, is because they shared a similar outlook on the philosophy of service to the sporting community.

"Gerry had, and Josh is the same, the outlook that he didn't do anything by 100 per cent," she said.

"It was 110 per cent, he gave it everything."

Not even a lack of equipment could stop Griffiths.

As his son, Evan, relayed via the phone, he and Gerry umpired the first ever local game in 1997 without flags, which had not yet been procured. They used their hands to signal the scores instead.

And though she smiled at the memory, one aspect of his Hall of Fame induction did elicit a sense of melancholy from Veronica.

"He'd be really chuffed," she said.

"That's the sad part, that he's not here to realise that all the work he put in has been acknowledged."

This latest accolade is another feather in Griffiths' cap, after whom the southern end of No. 1 Oval was named in 2019.