A family syndicate spanning three generations is the first winner to come forward to claim their share of a massive $19.1m jackpot nearly a week after it was drawn.

And the winner has revealed the ticket sat for days in a vehicle glove box as he mustered enough courage to take a look at the numbers.

"As soon as I saw the winning numbers in the paper the next day, I thought they looked very familiar," said the winner.

"But I couldn't bring myself to check our ticket, which was sitting in the glovebox of my car. I kept eyeing up the car, going outside and opening the door … then shutting it and turning back to the house without so much as looking at the ticket."

After checking the ticket several times, the winner raced inside to tell his family the good news.

"I ran to my wife shouting 'We've got it, we've got it!' I was in such a state, crying and howling and holding my chest, so we decided to call my son-in-law to work out what the heck to do next," he said.

The ticket, sold at the Greytown Fresh Choice supermarket, used numbers that were special to the extended family.