WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this story contains images of a person who has died.

Former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire has recounted the moment Andrew Krakouer vowed to turn his life around.

Krakouer tragically died on Sunday evening after suffering a heart attack at his family home in Perth. He was just 42.

He is survived by his partner Barbara and four children.

Tributes have come pouring in for the former Richmond and Collingwood player, who returned from a stint in jail to take the AFL Mark of the Year and become a leader for his community.

Drafted to Richmond, Krakouer played 102 games with the Tigers before he was delisted at the end of the 2007 season.

He was found guilty of assault the following year and sentenced to a minimum of 16 months in prison.

While in jail, Krakouer played for the Wooroloo Prison team and after his release in 2009, signed for the Swan Districts in the WAFL.

He dominated the 2010 season, winning the Sandover Medal as the best and fairest player, as well as the Simpson Medal for best on ground in the grand final when he racked up 42 touches and kicked four goals, including the match-winner in the dying stages.

Krakouer then joined Collingwood in 2011 and made a stunning return to the AFL. He kicked 35 goals, including three in the grand final loss to Geelong, and won the AFL Mark of the Year award.

Speaking to 7NEWS on Monday, McGuire remembered what Krakouer told him about his time in jail and how he craved to be back on the MCG.

“He was actually playing football in jail when we got the mail that he was actually playing really good football,” McGuire said.

“And Andrew once told me that he lay on the top bunk in the cell, looking at the ceiling six inches above him, thinking, ‘what am I doing here? I should be at the MCG’.

“He then came out and won of premiership with Swan Districts and we were able to recruit him and 12 months later, he’s playing a grand final at the MCG and showed again just what football was to Andrew Krakouer, but also what a great contributor he was to football.”

While AFL fans will remember Krakouer’s heroics on the field, McGuire was quick to point to his leadership off the field.

“It was a calculated risk (to recruit him) because we understood that Andrew was a great person. He had a lot to give and he was a deep thinking man,” McGuire said.

“Some of his speeches later on after he finished his career to schools were deep and meaningful and impactful. So he had a lot to give and his work on Indigenous television showed that as well.

“It’s a real tragedy. I remember his great mark, his mark of the year, the brilliant goals, the three goals in the 2011 grand final.

“They’re the things we remember as a footballer but a deep thinking leader in is community. We mourn for him deeply today.

“He’s going to be sorely missed by everyone in football and our deepest sympathies to everyone in the Krakouer family.”

Richmond legend and former teammate Matthew Richardson also paid tribute to Krakouer.

“Shocking news, it’s hard to believe really and hasn’t sunk in yet,” he told 7NEWS.

“As a footballer, Krakouer was a brilliant, electric small forward. I played with a lot of small forwards over the years, but I think Andrew was the most talented.

“He had beautiful soft hands, he could do anything at ground level, he was elusive and he knew where the goals were. He could actually take a mark as well so as a small forward he really did have it all.”

AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon said Krakouer would be remembered for the work he had done to turn his own life around, becoming a leader in addressing school and community groups while building a media career.

“To lose him at such an early age is a tragedy, and we hope there can be some peace for his family in this heart-breaking and difficult time,” Dillon said.

Krakouer’s father Jim and uncle Phil were stars with Claremont in the WAFL and North Melbourne in the VFL during the 1980s.