The football phenomenon that was Tony Modra hit another level on this day in 1993.

Twenty years ago, Modra became the first Crow – and the 25^th in VFL/AFL history - to kick 100 goals in a season when he booted seven goals in a losing side against Fitzroy at Princes Park in Melbourne. 

It was round 19 (August 7) when Modra’s stunning rise into the history books continued, after he had kicked 98 goals from 17 games. 

The ace full forward was mobbed by hundreds of fans after he kicked his second goal early in the second term and he went on to kick seven.

But it wasn’t a great day for the team. Adelaide’s hopes of playing finals for the first time were threatened by a five-point loss to lowly-ranked Fitzroy.

This didn’t stopped 200 fans waiting to greet Modra at the Adelaide airport the next day. 

The Modra football story is well known but worth summarising to underline his Hollywood style progress.

Originally from Port Noarlunga, he was a gifted Riverland country sportsman who struggled to settle into city life during stints with West Adelaide.  Modra seemed destined to remain a country star when he played with brothers Kym and Rick at Renmark in 1990.

But he returned to West and the SANFL in 1991, did enough to win a spot on Adelaide’s list in 1992 and showed some promise after making his AFL debut aged 23 and kicking 21 goals. 

Modra then exploded onto the scene in 1993 when he kicked 10 goals against Richmond in the opening round, after being a late inclusion for the injured Scott Hodges.

The goals kept coming, rapidly: six the following rounds against West Coast and Fitzroy, then five, seven, five, ten, three, seven, seven, two, one, seven, a club record 13.4 against Richmond in round 16, and then four goals the round before the Fitzroy clash. 

Modra finished the minor round with 119 goals and kicked another ten goals in three finals. But another star forward, Geelong’s Gary Ablett snr, won the Coleman Medal by kicking 124 goals in the minor round.