Tony Modra

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Tony Laverne Modra (born March 3, 1969) played for the Adelaide Crows and Fremantle Australian rules football clubs in the Australian Football League.

[edit] AFL career

Modra played above his 188 cm in height, and at 91 kg had the physical strength and size to match opposition full backs.

Recruited from West Adelaide Football Club (SANFL), Modra began his AFL career later than most players at 23 years of age.At first his potential at full-forward was overshadowed by senior player Scott Hodges who had a reputation as a prolific goal kicker at the Port Adelaide Football Club in the SANFL. Modra played a handful of games in his debut season of 1992, without making a great impact.

At the start of 1993, an injury to Hodges caused Modra to be put in the full forward position. Modra was an instant success, and finished the year with 129 goals.

Both the Crows and Modra has less successful seasons in 1994-1996, although Modra topped the club goalkicking each year.

In 1997, Modra won the Coleman Medal for the most goals in the AFL, and was also selected in the AFL all-Australian team. However a serious knee injury sustained during the preliminary final caused Modra to miss the Grand Final.

After returning from knee injury in 1998 he failed to regain form and was not considered for the Grand Final. He was thus one of the few leading Crows players who did not receive a premiership medallion in either of the Crows' premiership years of 1997 and 1998.

Modra's aerial ability was unsurpassed in his prime, and he was nominated for Mark of the Year on numerous occasions, winning the award in 1993, 1997 and 2000. Many of his spectacular marks and goals were featured in the AFL videos Miracle Marks and Golden Goals.

Modra suffered from being in a one team town. Despite his record, some people in South Australia believed he did not play to his full ability.

Modra relished was traded to Fremantle for the 1999 season. By the middle of the 2001 season his knees knee injuries forced him to retired at 32 years of age. His career games tally stood at 165 with 588 goals.

In his post-footballing career, Modra has become a dairy farmer. He now lives in Victor Harbour and plays a lot of golf with Peter Crafter(PGA). He still plays football, though mainly in charity games and special occasions.

Preceded by Tony Lockett

Coleman Medallist 1997

Succeeded by Tony Lockett