ADELAIDE star Andrew McLeod believes he is reaping the fruits of his labour in the latter part of the season.

McLeod dominated with 30 possessions in Crows’ round one win over Collingwood, but his numbers dropped off as the season progressed and opposition teams started paying closer attention to the veteran midfielder.

Crows’ coach Neil Craig maintained McLeod was playing an important role for the team, even if it wasn’t reflected on the stats sheet, but it didn’t stop people passing judgement on the dual Norm Smith medallist’s performance.

Media reports suggested McLeod was the least likely of the club’s veteran fab-four, which also includes skipper Simon Goodwin, Tyson Edwards and Brett Burton, to be offered a contract for next season.

But the 33-year-old has answered his critics in typical fashion.

McLeod, who starred with 30 touches in Friday night’s big elimination final win over Essendon, has averaged 28 disposals over the past seven weeks.

On Saturday morning the triple best and fairest winner said he was happy just playing his role for the team.

“Sometimes you work pretty hard and you don’t get the reward, but somewhere down the track it’s going to come. I’ve been lucky that I’ve got some reward for hard work over the past few weeks,” McLeod said.

“Everyone plays their role and you might not get the recognition from outside the footy club, but certainly inside you do. You don’t get caught up in what other people think. You listen to your coaches because what they say is gospel.”

The continued improvement of Scott Thompson, Bernie Vince and Chris Knights has seen McLeod receive less attention from opposition taggers over the past two months.

Vince was singled out for some close attention from Bomber Mark McVeigh on Friday night, but still managed 28 possessions and 11 clearances in a best on ground performance.

“That’s something that’s going to come as Bernie grows as a player,” McLeod said of Essendon’s tactics towards Vince.

“He’s going to come under scrutiny from the opposition, but the beauty of our team is that it doesn’t matter.

“Last night, Thommo was pretty heavily tagged and other guys stood up. It’s a great trait to have as a team. We’ve got one of the best lists that this footy club has ever seen and we’ve got a great belief in what we’re doing and that breeds a lot of confidence.”