Crows legend Tony Modra helps pull off surprise Gather Round proposal

When Amelia Seaford went to see her childhood celebrity crush – AFL legend Tony Modra – she never thought her life was about to change forever.

When Amelia Seaford went to meet her childhood celebrity crush, she never thought she’d end up engaged.

So when her longtime partner Ryan McGrath, 45, gifted her tickets to see Tony Modra’s Gather Round show, the last thing she expected was for him to propose with the Crows legend’s help.

“Ryan bought me the Tony Modra thing as a funny (Christmas) present to meet my 13-year-old crush,” the 43-year-old primary school teacher said.

“I was telling my friends, I’m going to see the man of my dreams, I’ll probably come home married, laughing in a tongue and cheek way.”

Little did she know that her “twin flame” had teamed up with event organisers to propose during the Q & A session where the final question wasn’t for Modra, but for Ms Seaford.

Ryan McGrath pops the question to Amelia Seaford with a little help from her idol Tony Modra at Gather Round. Picture: Supplied

The one-of-a-kind ring features opals, her favourite stone. Picture: Supplied

“I do have one more question here but it’s not for me,” Modra said during the show.

“This lady is very special. She’s an incredible mum, an amazing school teacher and she’s got a set of dimples that light up any room she enters.”

Inviting the couple on stage, Modra egged Mr McGrath on saying, “so Ryan McGrath if you’re here, what are you going to do about it?”

It was on stage where Mr McGrath got down on one knee to officially pop the question in front of his now-fiance’s idol and a room full of Crows fanatics.

To top it all off, he proposed with her dream ring; a stunning 18 carat boulder, opal, sapphire and tanzanite ring by Sarah Gardner Fine Jewellery.

“It was a blur and as soon as it happened I didn’t even say yes, I just put the ring on,” Ms Seaford laughed.

“Ryan goes for Geelong and I go for Crows and they had just beaten us the night before so at the start Tony said, if there’s any Geelong fans you know where the door is so thankfully he didn’t walk out.”

It was Modra’s first time assisting with a proposal with the former full forward admitting he “had to hold back tears.”

“I got a bit emotional as well,” he said.

“It was a very special moment ... I was honoured.”

Ms Seaford said it was “surreal having your childhood crush on stage with you as the love of your life is proposing to you.”

“I’ve been obsessed with Tony my whole life since he started playing football.

“I used to go and watch the Crows with my mum and sister and my friend gave me a cardboard cut out of him on my 13th birthday so it’s like this ongoing joke that Tony was at all the parties.”

Afterwards, they couldn’t wait to break the news to their loved ones, especially Ms Seaford’s sons Hudson, 13, and Sydney, 11, and Mr McGrath’s daughter Poppy, 10, who were “over the moon.”

“Our friends and family think it’s the absolute most perfect way he could have proposed,” Ms Seaford said.

While the proposal is still sinking in, she couldn’t wait to start their next chapter together.

“I’m looking forward to spending the rest of my life with my soulmate,” she said.

Originally published as Crows legend Tony Modra helps pull off surprise Gather Round proposal