How good was....Tony Modra?

[Dry Rot]

Some of us like me ;) are too young to have seen some great footy players and maybe some of us are so old we cannot remember....

I never saw the best of Tony Modra - how good was he?

[Edit] What modern day player is he most like?

[jeemak]

Best Bong Head to play the game.

EDIT - just checked his wiki page, no mention of bongs.

[Dry Rot]

Best Bong Head to play the game.

EDIT - just checked his wiki page, no mention of bongs.

Is that what got him so high in marking contests?

Have only seen fragments and highlights of Modra, but they were pretty spectacular.

[jeemak]

Is that what got him so high in marking contests?

Have only seen fragments and highlights of Modra, but they were pretty spectacular.

He was someone you just knew if you watched him he was likely to rip it apart. 3.5 goals a game with plenty of injuries to boot throughout his career is just elite.

If he was a player in the 80's then his legend would be a lot bigger as a player of his skills and size would have had a fair bit more to offer in those days before the game started to modernise.

[1eyedog]

Like Ablett Snr he had incredibly fast twitch muscle fibres allowing him to jump from a fair way out, he was a great reader of the ball through the air and had impeccable timing. He was a small key forward and so good above his head that the oppostition was forced to play bigger players on him, this provided awkward and dangerous situations at ground level. He had x-factor no matter where the ball was - crafted goals out of nothing many times.

Great player, lazy-ish but he's not the first Alpha male in the herd to have this trait, was pretty non-assuming non-fussed on the field so his personality was hard to get a read on. He was still a solid lead up player when he needed to be.

He's like no-one playing today. Maybe a bit Aaron Hamill but not as tough, a bit Eddie Betts but not as crafty. I dunno. Played too long and his last year was rife with Gia-type shoves to get his opponent under the ball so he could double back for Joe the Gooses.

[jeemak]

Like Ablett Snr he had incredibly fast twitch muscle fibres allowing him to jump from a fair way out, he was a great reader of the ball through the air and had impeccable timing. He was a small key forward and so good above his head that the oppostition was forced to play bigger players on him, this provided awkward and dangerous situations at ground level. He had x-factor no matter where the ball was - crafted goals out of nothing many times.

Great player, lazy-ish but he's not the first Alpha male in the herd to have this trait, was pretty non-assuming non-fussed on the field so his personality was hard to get a read on. He was still a solid lead up player when he needed to be.

He's like no-one playing today. Maybe a bit Aaron Hamill but not as tough, a bit Eddie Betts but not as crafty. I dunno.

To complete the blend I reckon you could throw in Brad Johnson to the mix of Betts and Hamill. Just a guy who could do things his size wouldn't usually allow.

[1eyedog]

To complete the blend I reckon you could throw in Brad Johnson to the mix of Betts and Hamill. Just a guy who could do things his size wouldn't usually allow.

Was thinking a bit Johnno as well, esp. 2007.

[jeemak]

Was thinking a bit Johnno as well, esp. 2007.

Poor old Johnno, probably the least revered six times All Australian going around...…..given half of them were won as a midfielder and half as a key forward at 182cm.

[chef]

His knee cost us a GF spot.

[Dry Rot]

His knee cost us a GF spot.

How so?

[bornadog]

How so?

Jarman kicked all those goals at FF

[Twodogs]

His knee cost us a GF spot.

I was so close to the action that day I literally heard his knee snap. Dad turned to me and said "what was that noise?" and I stupidly said "That's the noise that takes us into the grand final mate."

[Twodogs]

To complete the blend I reckon you could throw in Brad Johnson to the mix of Betts and Hamill. Just a guy who could do things his size wouldn't usually allow.

One day Johnno was doing something typically Johnno like. He was taking marks he had absolutely no right to take, playing on and kicking goals that he had absolutely no right to kick with 4 opponents hanging off him everytime and won us a game we were always going to lose (not the Adelaide game at the MCG-it was at Etihad maybe V North?).

Anyway after he'd done it the third or fourth time and we fell over the line Sockeye Salmon turned to me and said "If Johnno was three inches taller, people would be saying "Wayne Carey who?" and SS was spot on, 100% correct as per usual.

[chef]

How so?

He did his knee during that PF which then made Jarman go FF and the rest is history.

[GVGjr]

I went to a game out at Waverly and I think it was a pre-season game where I can recall frequently looking at the footy record for the name of the player wearing number 44 jumper that I had never heard of before. I think he might have kicked 6 on us that day and was jumping on the heads of our typically undersized backline

He had a great career

[Ozza]

Modra was an absolute star.

In that era Adelaide used to play quite a lot of games on a Sunday evening - and you could count on seeing Modra take some screamers and put on a show.

But apart from the highlight reel, he was an excellent leading forward also, too quick for the bigger full backs, but too strong for the smaller players. Each season that he was able to put together 18+ games, he was able to kick 70+ goals. He was as big as star as you'd get at the time.

[Twodogs]

Modra was an absolute star.

In that era Adelaide used to play quite a lot of games on a Sunday evening - and you could count on seeing Modra take some screamers and put on a show.

But apart from the highlight reel, he was an excellent leading forward also, too quick for the bigger full backs, but too strong for the smaller players. Each season that he was able to put together 18+ games, he was able to kick 70+ goals. He was as big as star as you'd get at the time.

I remember looking forward to the Sunday evening show. I started watching them compulsively because Tony MacGuiness would lob goal after goal from the 50 metre arc and then Modra came along.