Tony Modra, v Carlton at Football Park, March 27 1994

Full forward Tony Modra’s sudden elevation to superstar status started in the opening round of 1993, when he was a late inclusion to the Adelaide team but kicked ten goals against Richmond. He went on to kick 129 goals in his first full AFL season - only three years after he had been playing country football for Riverland club Renmark - to become the biggest name in South Australian sport.

But just days before the start of the 1994 season Modra was on the brink of walking away from the AFL because of the pressures of fame. He avoided attending a club family day, held crisis meetings with club officials and barely trained because of an injury leading into the open round clash. Then the story of how close he came to quitting was front page news two days before the game.

Taking all this into account adds to the merit of his amazing performance against Carlton. Modra kicked 13.3 in Adelaide’s 66-point win – and was again front page news. He dissected three Blues opponents - starting with champion full back Stephen Silvagni - took 13 marks, had 18 kicks and four handballs. “I was pretty happy. I felt I made a team contribution,” Modra said post-match in a classic understatement.

This is the third nomination in a 19-part series to find the greatest individual performances by Crows footballers.

Previous nominations: Peter Vardy’s six-goal effort in the 1998 second semi-final; Darren Jarman’s 1997 grand final.