Mark Bickley will forever be known as one of the greats of the Adelaide Football Club.

He was part of the inaugural Crows squad, played 272 AFL games and captained the Club to back-to-back flags in 1997 and 98.

There were many people who helped shape Bickley into the leader he became.

But speaking on AFC’s The History Locker: Hall of Fame podcast, it was the Club’s inaugural skipper who inspired Bickley.

“He (Chris McDermott) was so good because he got everyone together and made everyone feel like a team,” Bickley said.

“I don’t think there’s any player who had a greater impact on setting the direction of the Club, he was the one.

“You’d walk through the door and you’d think ‘do I really belong here? Am I good enough to be amongst this group?’

“That’s why someone like Chris, who sort of said ‘You’re fine, you’ll be right and you’re going to be great’.

“Just that reassurance and that making you feel valued, that’s probably what helped me so much.

“That’s probably what I took away in my leadership style, trying to replicate exactly what Chris did with me to every new player that came to the Club.”

Bickley, regarded for his courage and strong leadership, started as a defender but moved to the midfield as his career progressed.

He was inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame in 2009, became an Adelaide Football Club Life Member in 1999 and was inducted into the Club’s Hall of Fame last month.

But that is a far cry from where he came from, growing up as a country lad in Port Pirie.

“I literally can’t believe it,” Bickley said.

“I still pinch myself and my mates rib me because I reckon I was the 10th best football player in Port Pirie but the other guys didn’t have the drive or desire to go to Adelaide.

“(But) it’s a reward for the success of the group.

“I’m blessed by that group of guys we had, the feeling we created, Malcolm (Blight) arrived when he did and we just had that really spectacular feeling.”