| Tony Modra | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Modra being interviewed in October 2011 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Anthony Dale Modra | ||
| Nicknames | Mods, Godra[1] | ||
| Born | (1969-03-01)1 March 1969 (age 56) McLaren Vale,South Australia, Australia | ||
| Original team | West Adelaide (SANFL) | ||
| Height | 188 cm (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Weight | 95 kg (209 lb) | ||
| Position | Full-forward | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1991-1995 | West Adelaide | 34 (112) | |
| 1992–1998 | Adelaide | 118 (440) | |
| 1999–2001 | Fremantle | 47 (148) | |
| Total | 199 (700) | ||
| Representative team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| 1992–1997 | South Australia | 6 (24) | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2001. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
Club
Representative
| |||
| Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com | |||
Anthony Dale Modra (born 1 March 1969) is a formerAustralian rules footballer who representedAdelaide andFremantle in theAustralian Football League (AFL) andWest Adelaide in theSouth Australian National Football League (SANFL). Known for hisspectacular marking ability in thefull-forward position,[2] Modra had the physical strength and size to match the best oppositionfull-backs in the competition. As of 2023, he is the only Adelaide player to kick more than 100 goals in a season, achieving the feat in 1993 by registering 129 goals for the year.
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Modra was born inMcLaren Vale, South Australia, but grew up nearby inChristies Beach, South Australia, and attended Christies Beach Primary School along with future Adelaide teammateNigel Smart. He moved toLoxton, South Australia, at age 11 with his parents (Douglas and Valerie) and four older siblings (Kerry, Kym, Rick and Joanne). Modra grew up playing multiple sports—notably Australian rules football and soccer for Loxton, both of which he loved equally—but solely played Australian rules football from age 14, which most of his friends played. Growing up, Modra supportedGlenelg in theSANFL, plusSt Kilda andRichmond in the VFL (prior to it merging into the AFL).
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Modra first played Under-19s game for West Adelaide in 1988 but could not adjust to working and playing football in Adelaide. Modra returned home, and in 1989, as a 20-year-old, Tony kicked 76 goals for theLoxton Football Club; Loxton would end up losing the Grand Final toBarmera-Monash.
In 1990, Tony joined his brothers Rick and Kym at theRenmark Rovers Football Club in pursuit of a premiership. Modra led the team to win the 1990Riverland Football League in a grand final replay after drawing withWaikerie the previous week. Modra kicked a remarkable 118 goals for the season.
In 1991, Modra attempted to move to Red Cliffs in theSunraysia Football League and played one pre-season game for the club, kicking 13 goals on newly Sydney-draftedDarren Holmes. However, Modra was still contracted to West Adelaide, and they would not be awarded a fee if Modra was to play in the AFL one day. Due to Red Cliffs being based interstate, this fee would not be received if Modra played there. Lawyers from Red Cliffs faced a tribunal in Adelaide, but the tribunal ruled that Modra was a contracted West Adelaide player. Reluctantly, he returned to West Adelaide for the 1991 season, playing in the losing1991 SANFL Grand Final. He did enough to earn an invite to anAdelaide Crows training session, and he managed to win selection in the squad. Modra was selected in the1991 AFL draft as aZone Selection for the Adelaide Football Club. Modra played 15 SANFL games for West Adelaide and kicked 46 goals between 1988 and 1991.[3]
Modra began his AFL career at 23 years of age. At first, his potential at full-forward was overshadowed by senior playerScott Hodges, who had a reputation as a prolific goalkicker in the SANFL withPort Adelaide Football Club, having broken the record for most goals in a season in 1990 when he kicked 153. Modra played 8 games in his debut season of1992, kicking 21 goals.[4]
At the start of1993, an injury to Hodges led to Modra's inclusion at full-forward with Adelaide. Modra was an instant success, kicking 10 goals in the opening round againstRichmond atMelbourne Cricket Ground and finishing the year as runner-up toGeelong'sGary Ablett Sr. in theColeman Medal with 119 goals in the home-and-away season, kicking an additional 10 in 3 finals.
Both the Crows and Modra had less successful seasons in1994 through to1996, although Modra topped the club goalkicking each year. Also in 1994, Modra garnered controversy when he insulted a female flight attendant while on a flight from Hong Kong. Modra apologised for the incident, citing his 'nightlife' as the cause, and was given fines by both the Adelaide Crows and the AFL.[5]
In1997, Modra won the Coleman Medal for the most goals in the season, and he was also selected in theAll-Australian team. However, a tornanterior cruciate ligament injury sustained during a marking contest in the preliminary final caused Modra to miss the Crows' first premiership win when they defeatedSt Kilda in the1997 AFL Grand Final.
After returning from the knee injury 10 months later in1998, he failed to regain form and was not considered for the1998 AFL Grand Final. He was thus one of only a 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 forMark of the Year on numerous occasions, winning the award in 1993, 1997 and2000.
Adelaide traded Modra toFremantle for the1999 AFL season. After kicking a club record 71 goals in his first year at Fremantle (only bested byMatthew Pavlich in2007 by a single goal since), by the middle of the2001 AFL season sore knees forced him to retire from the AFL at 32 years of age. His AFL career finished at 165 games for 588 goals.
G | Goals | K | Kicks | D | Disposals | T | Tackles |
B | Behinds | H | Handballs | M | Marks |
| Led the league for the season only | |
| Led the league after finals only | |
| Led the league after season and finals |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | ||||
| 1992 | Adelaide | 6 | 8 | 21 | 11 | 41 | 7 | 48 | 24 | 1 | 2.6 | 1.4 | 5.1 | 0.9 | 6.0 | 3.0 | 0.1 |
| 1993 | Adelaide | 6 | 23 | 129 | 61 | 240 | 41 | 281 | 163 | 8 | 5.6 | 2.7 | 10.4 | 1.8 | 12.2 | 7.1 | 0.3 |
| 1994 | Adelaide | 6 | 19 | 70 | 39 | 146 | 31 | 177 | 85 | 3 | 3.7 | 2.1 | 7.7 | 1.6 | 9.3 | 4.5 | 0.2 |
| 1995 | Adelaide | 6 | 16 | 42 | 29 | 108 | 25 | 133 | 54 | 4 | 2.6 | 1.8 | 6.8 | 1.6 | 8.3 | 3.4 | 0.3 |
| 1996 | Adelaide | 6 | 19 | 75 | 32 | 144 | 13 | 157 | 87 | 12 | 3.9 | 1.7 | 7.6 | 0.7 | 8.3 | 4.6 | 0.6 |
| 1997 | Adelaide | 6 | 25 | 84 | 45 | 181 | 22 | 203 | 93 | 13 | 3.4 | 1.8 | 7.2 | 0.9 | 8.1 | 3.7 | 0.5 |
| 1998 | Adelaide | 6 | 8 | 19 | 8 | 46 | 13 | 59 | 26 | 3 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 5.8 | 1.6 | 7.4 | 3.3 | 0.4 |
| 1999 | Fremantle | 6 | 20 | 71 | 43 | 166 | 17 | 183 | 81 | 7 | 3.6 | 2.2 | 8.3 | 0.9 | 9.2 | 4.1 | 0.4 |
| 2000 | Fremantle | 6 | 16 | 50 | 25 | 109 | 19 | 128 | 62 | 3 | 3.1 | 1.6 | 6.8 | 1.2 | 8.0 | 3.9 | 0.2 |
| 2001 | Fremantle | 6 | 11 | 27 | 15 | 61 | 18 | 79 | 35 | 8 | 2.5 | 1.4 | 5.5 | 1.6 | 7.2 | 3.2 | 0.7 |
| Career | 165 | 588 | 308 | 1242 | 206 | 1448 | 710 | 62 | 3.6 | 1.9 | 7.5 | 1.2 | 8.8 | 4.3 | 0.4 | ||
Since 2003, Modra has worked as a cattle farmer on his property atWaitpinga, nearVictor Harbor, with his family, wife Erica and two children, Hayley May and Luke.[7][8][9] He resumed playing local football forEncounter Bay in theGreat Southern Football League, where he is still affiliated. In 2021, Modra was named in the Team of the Century for Encounter Bay.[10] Modra also played for the Prince Alfred Old Collegians Football Club alongside old teammateMark Ricciuto in division 4 of theSouth Australian Amateur Football League. He also plays in charity games such as theWest End Slowdown and was still taking huge marks as recently as October 2015 at the age of 46; he produced an amazing mark, gaining significant media attention.[11][12][13][14] He also plays cricket for the Encounter Bay Cricket Club.
Modra kicked 10 goals against Lucindale on 30 June 2006. Keith won by 119 points.[citation needed]
In his first senior premiership since he was 21, Modra kicked 8 goals in Keith's win over Penola in the KNTFL Grand Final played at Naracoorte on 15 September 2007. Final scores were Keith 19.8 (122) def. Penola 10.10 (70).[citation needed]
In May 2011, it was reported that Modra was considering a return to the AFL as a coach with Adelaide.[7]
On 3 October 2011, Modra—along with other former AFL and SANFL stars such asAndrew andDarren Jarman,Gavin Wanganeen,Mark Ricciuto,Ben Hart,Mick Martyn,Brendan Fevola,Matthew Lloyd andDermott Brereton—played in the State of Origin Slowdown match at theAdelaide Oval betweenSouth Australia andVictoria. The match was played for charity for theLittle Heroes Foundation and saw South Australia winners 17.10 (112) to Victoria's 17.9 (111) courtesy of a goal 20 seconds from the final siren by Darren Jarman.
In late 2021, Modra made the move to Queensland, where he linked up with his old Fitness Coach Karli Owen, who ran him through a rigorous six-month program that allowed him to return to South Australia and take up a role within the Glenelg Masters. He attributed his breakout season to Karli and her strict training regime for his return to his former glory.[15]
