A star is born: Modra’s first-ever magic bag of 10 in 1993 showcases the arrival of the true Crows cult hero
This weekend, the Crows were supposed to play Richmond at the MCG. Instead, amid COVID-19 chaos halting sport, we look back at their 1993 clash that heralded a new cult hero for Adelaide.
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At the beginning of season 1993, Adelaide coach Graham Cornes had a big conundrum to solve: Who would fill the important role of full forward?
It was a two-horse race between gifted Magpies SANFL favourite Scott Hodges, and an upcoming kid from the country by the name of Anthony Modra.
Cornes’ quandary – Is it Hodges? Is it Modra? Is it both? – had carried over from season 1992 and Mark Bickley, then a 23-year-old electrician and emerging midfielder, recalls watching the two jostling for that key position over the summer.
“All during pre-season, they were neck and neck,” he said.
“And even right up until the last training session on the Thursday night, most of us thought Scott Hodges was going to get picked in front of Mods.”
It was no easy decision for Cornes and his selectors.
In ’92, Modra had played eight games and kicked 21 goals. By comparison, Hodges had played 13 games, kicked 48 goals and earned himself four Brownlow votes, but his goalkicking average on the road hovered around one.
In ‘93, the Crows last pre-season hitout before game one was a 19-point loss to Essendon in the quarterfinals of the Fosters Cup and it gave Cornes no answers to his full forward question.
In that loss, Modra booted two goals, five from 10 kicks and Cornes still has on file what he said to Modra afterwards.
“I said: ‘You looked all at sea across half forward Tony because you didn’t run to the fall of the ball effectively enough or commit yourself to fighting for the ball on the ground.
‘However, at full forward you certainly got your share of the ball but unfortunately had difficulty converting.
‘Two goals five is not good percentage football. No tackles in your statistics would indicate that you don’t chase hard enough or work hard enough in our forward lines when they have possession of the ball.
‘Nevertheless, I was pleased that you led strongly and confidently and hit the ball hard when you were at full forward’.”
So, was it Modra? Was it Hodges?
Then, like so many sporting stories before and since, fate intervened: At the squad’s final training session on the Thursday night, Hodges pulled a thigh muscle and was ruled out of round one. Modra boarded the plane to take on Richmond at the MCG.
Bickley says Adelaide was acutely aware of the importance of getting a good start on the road because their previous two seasons had shown that when the boys donned their white shorts poor performances followed.
“We all knew that we were capable, but the difference between our best and worst and our home form and our away form were just so different,” he said.
Season ‘93 changed that. From the first bounce, the Crows hounded the ball, led by captain Chris McDermott who had 37 touches by game’s end, and when they kicked it forward found Modra on the lead, his speed easily shaking off defenders.
Channel 7 commentator Dennis Cometti observed: “If (Modra and Tigers fullback Allistair Scott) had a footrace over 50m, Modra probably would beat his marksman by four or five paces”.
Bickley recalls that speed: “He was able to explode out on the lead and we looked for him a fair bit.
“Then there were other times in the game, where if it was a slow play, you could just kick it up high and because he was sort of new, the opposition didn’t really know what his strengths were and that enabled him to get a run and a jump at it, and when he had a run and jump he could mark anything.”
But there were other highlights in the game; Greg Anderson and Chris Groom played their first games in the tricolours and kicked three and two goals respectively, while Stephen Rowe had a bag of four.
A young Nigel Smart was everywhere and ruckman David Pitman had 21 hit-outs after Shaun Rehn hurt his knee. Rodney Maynard started at centre-half forward and doggedly fought his way to 30 touches as Richmond was left in disarray, particularly after half time.
The Crows nailed Richmond’s coffin with a 10-goal to three final term, finishing 28.10 (178) to 12.12 (84) victors.
Andrew Jarman’s 29 disposals earnt him one Brownlow vote, while Tony McGuinness gave the team’s new trainer Gary Goudge a piece of his mind (and fist) when the two collided during play.
But it was Modra’s day. The 24-year-old was best on ground after kicking a stunning 10 goals and three behinds.
His tenth goal came with seven minutes left after he marked a piercing kick from Rod Jameson despite Richmond’s Nathan Bower on this back.
Commentator Bruce McAvaney called it a “Dunstall performance”.
Asked whether he’d enjoyed himself after the game, Modra simply replied: “Yeah, it was good”.
This was Modra’s first of five 10-or-more-goal hauls he would kick across his 10-season AFL career (including one in Fremantle colours).
Bickley, who had 20 touches of his own that day, recalls the game because it was a life-changing moment, of sorts.
“About a month earlier I’d started night shift at Mitsubishi Motors, and we’d flown to Melbourne, played the game, got back at 9.30pm and I went home, had a bite to eat and then I was off to work for eight hours,” he recalled.
“But I was that exhausted, I fell asleep and it was dangerous because I was an electrician.
“I went and saw the boss and said: ‘I can’t do night shift anymore’ and he said: ‘Well, we all have to do night shift’ so I had to go and find another job.”
How times have changed.
That game still sits in club history: it is Adelaide’s equal fifth highest score and the largest the Crows have kicked at the MCG.
The 94-point margin is Adelaide’s 20th-ranked biggest win of all time. The 28 goals, 10 behinds is their fourth-ranked score of “more goals than behinds” and remains the club’s 16th most accurate on record.
But it will be most remembered as the day a star full forward – a player who would go on to capture the hearts and minds of an entire state – was born.
Originally published as A star is born: Modra’s first-ever magic bag of 10 in 1993 showcases the arrival of the true Crows cult hero