In the lead-up to the Adelaide Football Club’s last-ever game at AAMI Stadium on Saturday, afc.com.au is taking you for a trip down memory lane. As part of our Farewell to Footy Park, we’ll highlight some of the most memorable games and moments at the ground over the past 23 years.
Today, Crows captain Nathan van Berlo recalls some of his favourite memories …
One of my favourite memories at AAMI Stadium is Round One, 2011. We played Hawthorn to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of our Club’s first-ever game – against Hawthorn at Football Park in 1991. Hawthorn were red-hot favourites to win the flag that year and we managed to get up.
As players, we had a really moving moment before the game when Chris McDermott and a few of the Club’s past players spoke to us in the ‘Blue Room’. It sent shivers down your spine listening to their stories. For our boys to perform the way we did and win on such a big night for the Club is a fond memory of mine.
Another memorable game was the first Showdown in 2008. We were down to no fit men on the bench – I think we might’ve only had three players on the bench at one stage. Luke Jericho fractured his sternum. Nathan Bassett was concussed and I think Bernie Vince copped a heavy hit too. The boys really rallied in the last quarter to come from behind and have a great win. I remember Bunji (Andrew McLeod) standing there and holding the ball in the air at the end of the game. It was a significant moment in Showdown history and probably my favourite Showdown win to-date.
Mark Ricciuto was the king of Showdowns when I first came to the Club. I remember Roo running down the Members’ Wing, taking a bounce and kicking from outside 50m in the pocket that everybody considers ‘impossible’. He did it numerous times that year. For me, as a young teammate and a lifelong footy fan, to be able to play alongside Roo and see him do amazing things like that was unbelievable. I’ll never forget those moments.
Brett Burton took heaps of hangers in his career, but I loved the one against West Coast in the 2006 Preliminary Final at AAMI Stadium. I think he took the mark on top of Tyson Stenglein. Bird (Burton) probably enjoyed that mark the most, being good mates with Stinger from when they played here together. He took so many it’s hard to pick the best, but he would’ve loved that one.
It’s hard to go past winning finals. I’ve been lucky enough to play in two winning finals here, the first one was against Fremantle in the Qualifying Final in 2006. We managed to kick away in the final quarter. Knowing we had the game won and were going into a Prelim Final, with the crowd behind you was a pretty special feeling. It was replicated again last year when we beat Freo in the Semi-Final last year. It was a great victory for us and is another great memory.
I sat in the crowd for the Essendon final in 2009 and watching the boys and the way they went about it was unbelievable. Another game against the Bombers (Round 10, 2006) sticks in my mind. We won by 138 points and I remember Kenny McGregor kicking our 30th goal right before the siren. The side was at its peak and we were playing some outstanding footy. It was one of those nights where everything just clicked.
