Tony Modra’s rise to stardom was confirmed in breathtaking style when he soared to take the AFL Mark of the Year at Football Park in 1993.

Adelaide’s new hero then capped the moment by kicking 10 goals to help spark a record last-term comeback that lifted the Crows to a famous two‑point win over North Melbourne.

It was May 16, a Sunday evening in round eight, when Modra took what he calls the best mark of his spectacular career.

The high-flying full forward had burst onto the AFL scene with 39 goals in the first seven rounds but Adelaide had lost its previous three matches and was facing the top side.

It was late in the third quarter when Adelaide’s Tony McGuinness kicked long to the southern end goalsquare, where Modra jumped and sat on the head of North’s Ian Fairley. He held the mark despite an attempted spoil from Glenn Archer.

There was no video screen at Football Park to watch a replay but amazed fans roared and gave the No 6 an emotional standing ovation.

 “It was just a great day I guess,” Modra later recalled. “Archer was behind me and (teammate) Mark Mickan and Fairley were in front of me and I just went up, got the timing right and luckily held on to it.

“When I was going back to kick for goal the crowd was standing up cheering and it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

“I was nearly in tears. When you take that sort of mark, you need to kick the goal. I was trying to rub the tears from my eyes and concentrate on the goal because the crowd was just so loud. It was fantastic.

“Seeing the grandstand erupt made me want to keep trying it again.”

Modra then kicked his seventh goal to reduce North’s lead to 12 points but the Roos subdued the buzzing crowd with two late goals to lead by 26 points at three-quarter-time.

The margin stretched to 29 points six minutes into the last term before Adelaide responded with six consecutive goals in 12 minutes.

Two goals each to Matthew Robran and Modra revived the home crowd of 45,562, Stephen Rowe put the Crows in front and then Modra’s tenth goal of the night gave Adelaide an eight-point lead with seven minutes to play.

North hit back, however, and Wayne Carey’s fifth goal forced the home side to hang on for the last two tense minutes.

33 years later, it remains Adelaide’s best comeback from a three-quarter-time deficit.

Vice-captain McGuinness, interviewed on the ground after the siren, said: “I can’t believe it … just an incredible team performance. Modra? Sensational. He’s just grown into a superstar”.

Adelaide was on the way to its first final series in its third year and by the end of Modra’s first full season, he had kicked 129 goals and was named in the All-Australian side.

His spectacular 1993 mark was the first of three AFL Mark of the Year awards in his AFL career with the Crows and Fremantle.

(Photo supplied via The Advertiser)