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Tony Modra is regarded as the most spectacular high-marking full-forward of the 1990s AFL era. Recruited from West Adelaide as a concession pick, he exploded onto the scene in 1993 by kicking 129 goals - the 11th highest total in VFL/AFL history - and winning the Mark of the Year, making him an overnight sensation. His aerial ability was simply without peer in his era.
He won the 1997 Coleman Medal with 84 goals and was All-Australian in both 1993 and 1997. Cruelly, he tore his ACL in the 1997 Preliminary Final, missing Adelaide's premiership win the following week. He won three AFL Mark of the Year awards and the Goal of the Year in 1995, and holds the Adelaide record for most goals in a game with 13, achieved on two occasions.
Anthony Dale Modra was born on 1 March 1969 in McLaren Vale, South Australia, and grew up in the state’s Riverland region, where he dominated local football with Renmark before reluctantly making the move to Adelaide to join West Adelaide in the SANFL in 1991. His hesitation about leaving country life was understandable – he was comfortable in Renmark – but West Adelaide’s persistence paid off. He won their leading goalkicker award in 1992 and Adelaide picked him up as a concession selection at the end of that year, paying relatively little attention at the time to what they were acquiring.
The 1993 season announced Modra to the football world in the most emphatic fashion. An injury to incumbent full-forward Scott Hodges promoted Modra to the position in the opening round against Richmond at the MCG, and he responded by kicking 10 goals. He never looked back. He finished the season with 129 goals – the first Adelaide player to kick 100 in a season and the 11th highest single-season total in VFL/AFL history – won the AFL Mark of the Year with a soaring contested mark against North Melbourne that also set up a remarkable comeback win, and was named in the All-Australian team. At 24 years old and in his first full season, Modra had become the most watched forward in the competition.
His marking ability was genuinely extraordinary. Standing 188cm with excellent athleticism and a fearless approach to aerial contests, he could launch over opponents in ways that consistently defied reasonable expectation. Three AFL Mark of the Year awards – 1993, 1997 and 2000 – confirmed what supporters saw every week: that Modra was doing things with a football no one else in the competition was capable of replicating. He also possessed a powerful and accurate set shot that converted the vast majority of his opportunities, and the combination of spectacular taking and reliable finishing made him one of the most complete full-forwards the game had seen.
The 1997 season brought the individual pinnacle. Modra kicked 84 goals across the home and away season to win the Coleman Medal, was named All-Australian for the second time, and Adelaide won the minor premiership. Then in the preliminary final against Geelong at the AAMI Stadium, Modra suffered a devastating ACL injury in a marking contest and was immediately ruled out of the grand final the following week. Adelaide defeated St Kilda to claim their first premiership without him – one of the cruellest individual misfortunes in the history of the competition, a player at the absolute peak of his powers denied by injury the one team honour his talent deserved.
He returned for eight games in 1998 but was overlooked for the finals including the 1998 Grand Final as Adelaide won back-to-back premierships, again without him involved. The experience contributed to his decision to seek a trade to Fremantle, where he kicked 71 goals in his first season of 1999 – leading the Dockers’ goalkicking and winning a third Mark of the Year – before persistent knee problems eventually ended his career in 2001 at age 32. He retired with 165 games and 588 goals – a goals per game average of 3.56 that places him among the elite full-forwards of the entire VFL/AFL era.
