Hall of Fame inductee Andrew McLeod reflects on how easy it would have been to finish his career at Essendon

FREMANTLE’S greatest gaffe — trading Andrew McLeod from its inaugural AFL squad in 1994 — is now of Hall of Fame proportions.

Semi Final. Collingwood v Adelaide Crows. MCG. Andrew McLeod leaves Heath Shaw in his wake

FREMANTLE’S greatest gaffe — trading Andrew McLeod from its inaugural AFL squad in 1994 — is now of Hall of Fame proportions.

But for all that is to be made again of Dockers coach Gerard Neesham’s brave and flawed decision to turn a would-be football great into trade bait, the moment that prompted McLeod to reflect at last night’s induction ceremony was his decision to stay a Crow.

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McLeod — the games record holder (340) at Adelaide — is the third “one-club” Crow to join football’s most exclusive roll call in the Hall of Fame, along with Brownlow Medallist Mark Ricciuto and premiership captain Mark Bickley.

McLeod’s fact file.

But the Norm Smith Medallist — as best-afield in both of Adelaide’s grand final triumphs in 1997 and ’98 — almost gave up that one-club title to become a Bomber in the 2006 trade period.

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More dramatic than Neesham’s rebuff of McLeod at the start of an extraordinary career filled with hurdles — from 18 operations on a bad knee to a terse relationship with coach Gary Ayres — is the off-field saga between McLeod’s wife Rachael and teammate Tyson Edwards’ wife, Mandy.

Mark Bickley holds up McLeod with the AFL Grand Final trophy. The Crows defeated North Melbourne at the MCG.

The fall-out from the wives clashing at two club functions in 2006 ended a friendship, a bond between premiership teammates, and came close to sending McLeod to Essendon.

It took the counsel of former Crows chief executive and chairman Bill Sanders — who worked the deal to get McLeod while Collingwood made big plays to Fremantle — to stop McLeod from making a decision he says he would now regret.

Tyson Edwards congratulates Andrew McLeod on his 313th match with the Crows.

“Now that I have retired,” McLeod said, “I look back at it as a good decision. Had I walked out, I don’t think the fans would see me in the same light.

“I look back and feel it is pretty special that I played all my career at one club.

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“It would have been easier for me to walk away. (Crows football manager) John Reid had almost organised a trade to Essendon. I was happy to do that. Kevin Sheedy was still coaching — and he is one of my all-time favourite coaches.

McLeod celebrates a goal in the 2002 semi-final match at the MCG.

“But at the deadline, Bill Sanders brought me back by making me see what it would mean to leave Adelaide. He has that ability to look at things simply.

“Staying was hard work. But I made sure the club put some parameters around that made me still enjoy my time here.”

McLeod today stands as one of the great Crows in Adelaide’s 24-year story. For some he is the greatest. To everyone, McLeod is the one Fremantle — or more to the point Neesham — let go.

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“I try not to reflect on it too much ... but there are times when you do ask, ‘What if?’,” McLeod said. “I was lucky I was handed an opportunity to come to Adelaide ... and to play here for 16 years. I look back on that and think, things do happen for a reason. I was meant to come to Adelaide. And I am thankful Gerard Neesham, for whatever reason, didn’t think I was a right fit for Fremantle.

McLeod, wearing the Norm Smith Medal, and kissing premiership cup after the 1997 AFL Grand Final against St Kilda.

“I wasn’t the only one. Daryl Wakelin ends up at St Kilda. Jeff Farmer at Melbourne. Sometimes coaches make those decisions ...

“Gerard Neesham has said it — and he is right — he was not to know what I was to be as a player. In fairness to Gerard he had a lot of players there too in similar roles — Scott Chisholm, Gary Dhurrkay, Winston Abraham ...

“Those guys were playing in WA, he had seen a lot of them and when I met him he said he had never seen me play. He had put guys in front of me ... that’s fine. I’ve never had any ill feeling towards him.”

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McLeod played 24 times against the Dockers. His statistics reveal his average disposal count against Fremantle (22) is higher than that against other clubs and his career average (20).

“Part of that is wanting to prove something — show (Fremantle) what you missed out on,” McLeod said. “As a footballer, a sportsman, you draw on those things to motivate yourself, to inspire you to be good. You look for that moment — a trigger moment — to get something a bit extra.”

Originally published as Hall of Fame inductee Andrew McLeod reflects on how easy it would have been to finish his career at Essendon