AS A PROUD Northern Territorian, Andrew McLeod embarked on his AFL career keenly aware that he had big shoes to fill.

Richmond's Maurice Rioli and Essendon's Michael Long both won Norm Smith medals. Michael McLean was a star with Footscray and the Brisbane Bears.

But McLeod might have them covered. He won two Norm Smith medals as best on ground playing for Adelaide in the 1997-98 grand finals.

McLeod was always going to be a star. He announced himself on the national stage in 1995 with a freak goal to beat Hawthorn, but he went from good to great under the guidance of Malcolm Blight.

Talk to McLeod today and he can't offer enough praise for Blight, as well as his then-fitness coach (and future senior coach) Neil Craig.

"When 'Blighty' took over, I learned how to train and under Neil Craig, how to push my body to a stage where I knew it well and how to test it and challenge myself," he says.

"They didn't just instill a great work ethic but also instilled confidence to back myself in and to know I was good enough. That's always the question and certainly under Blighty’s guidance I gained the confidence to know I could compete against the best players and mix it with them. That certainly helped me."

Even before coming under Blight's spell, McLeod understood that the truly great players stand up in big games.

"I had a bit to live up to," he says with a chuckle. "I just embraced it and thought it was something to celebrate, that those two (Rioli and Long) had done it in the past. There was no pressure; I just wanted to go out well and perform and was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time."

McLeod was tough, quick and skillful, able to provide the Crows with run and rebound for 340 games over 16 years. He combined with stars such as Darren Jarman, Mark Ricciuto, Mark Bickley, Tyson Edwards and Kane Johnson in some outstanding Adelaide midfields.

And he was remarkably durable given his final act of just about every season was to undergo some sort of knee surgery. But come the start of the pre-season, with a new batch of recruits, his competitive juices would emerge once more.

"I always wanted to get better and never be entirely happy. 'Blighty' would say, ‘Once you think you know everything it’s time to give the game away’. I used that as motivation and always look at ways to improve my game every year and to focus and get better.

"They would want to come in every year and knock you off. A bit of that competitive beast helped me last a long time. It was good management as well, because I had a lot of problems with my knee.

McLeod was a regular International Rules player and captained the Indigenous All-Stars team. And just as he sought inspiration from McLean, Rioli and Long, he understood the next batch of aspiring Territory footballers looked towards him.

"It was something I have always embraced," he says. "I was always comfortable with who I was and wanted to be a good role model because when you play footy and get a little bit of publicity it showed young kids, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, that they could live these dreams."

He still fulfills that role today, managing several indigenous education and football programs for the Crows with his wife, Rachel, as well as coaching the Norwood reserves in the SANFL.

As for his Hall of Fame nomination, he could scarcely bring himself to open the letter from the AFL when it arrived.

"I'm just so thankful I was able to pursue a dream to play at the highest level for 16 years and do that at one club, Adelaide, which became part of my family," he says.