Adelaide’s last final at the Sydney Cricket Ground was on this day in 1998.

And it was Peter Vardy who made sure the Crows had a party with a stunning six-goal performance in the wet.

Adelaide’s 1998 premiership campaign did not follow the 1997 pattern, with the fifth-placed Crows losing to Melbourne at the MCG in the first week of the finals.

This sent the Crows to Sydney for a knock-out semi-final and suddenly another premiership seemed a long way off.

But in drenching rain on a waterlogged SCG, Adelaide found its way back on to the road to consecutive flags with a 27-point win over the Swans, who had finished the minor round in third spot and won their first final against St Kilda.

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A broken collarbone had stopped Vardy from playing in Adelaide’s first premiership campaign and a year later a sore bruised heel threatened his position in Adelaide’s line-up as it navigated another finals series.

The ground was a sloppy mudheap but on a night when most players struggled to kick the ball accurately over any distance, Vardy’s six goals from 19 disposals (and a game-high seven clearances) helped lift Adelaide into a preliminary final.

Starting on a wing, Vardy kicked the opening goal and then another in the second term before a burst of three goals in five minutes midway through the third term stretched Adelaide’s lead from 13 to 32 points.

His sixth goal early in the last quarter shut down any hope of a late Swans charge. “Pretty lucky, I guess, and I’m happy with that,” was Vardy’s post-match reaction.

Second Semi-Final, SCG, September 12 1998

Adelaide 14.10 (94) d Sydney 10.7 (67)

Goals: Vardy 6, McLeod, James 3, Ricciuto, Rehn 1.

Best: Vardy, Smart, Hart, McLeod, Ricciuto, Rehn, Caven