IT WAS good fortune that brought Andrew McLeod to West Lakes, but luck had nothing to do with what followed.
In 1994, Adelaide and the recently formed Fremantle effected one of the most lopsided trades in AFL/VFL history when the Crows switched forward Chris Groom for an unknown indigenous teenager called McLeod.
The meeting between McLeod, his father, Jock, and the then Fremantle coach Gerard Neesham, who allegedly had never even seen the half-back play, left both parties unimpressed and, as a result, the deal to send McLeod to the Crows was struck.
Fast forward 14 years and the highly decorated McLeod is on the eve of joining the AFL’s elite 300-club, while Chris Groom, the innocent party in this infamous trade, is long retired having played just 24 games.
On Monday, McLeod reflected on just how different his career could’ve been if not for that fateful day in WA.
“I wouldn’t have two flags,” he said with a wry smile.
“At the end of the day, it was a wonderful decision for me to be able to come to the Adelaide Crows and I’m very grateful.
“Gerard Neesham probably cops a bit of a hiding about it, but I’m very grateful I got the opportunity to come to a great club and I have been very fortunate to be here for 14 years … jeez, I’m bloody old.
“I wouldn’t have had the opportunities to probably play with some of the players I have and I wouldn’t have played in those two grand finals. It was just luck.”
It didn’t take long for the boy from Darwin to make Fremantle regret its decision.
In 1997, the Crows made it on to the game’s biggest stage for the very first time and it was there McLeod came of age.
The 21-year-old was instrumental in Adelaide’s upset win over St Kilda, racking up 31 possessions on his way to becoming the youngest-ever winner of the North Smith Medal.
McLeod, despite not polling a single Brownlow vote, capped off his year winning the first of three Crows club champion awards.
In 1998, Adelaide took a different path to the Grand Final, but the end result was the same, another Crows victory and another mercurial McLeod display.
McLeod repeated his Norm Smith medal winning performance; a feat made even more remarkable by the fact he was carrying what would soon be revealed as a degenerative knee injury.
McLeod’s knee continued to make headlines and fears arose that the painful bone-on-bone nature of the joint would put a premature end to his career.
Earlier this season, McLeod’s surgeon described him as having the knees of a 60-year-old, but through careful management, strong will-power and a solid bike program, the five-time All-Australian has missed just a handful of games since establishing himself in the Crows side in 1996.
“There has always been the concern [my knees would cut my career short], but I’ve been able to manage it really well through the footy club, the doctors, physios and footy staff,” McLeod said.
“At some points, it causes you a fair bit of grief, but you’re able to push through.
“There was a time where I struggled a fair bit and you go through periods where you wonder if it’s worth putting your body through that much pain, but at the end of the day, we’ve been able to manage it well and it’s a credit to the footy club.
“As it’s turned out, I’ve been able to give them a bit more service than we probably thought I would.”
And McLeod is hopeful he has a bit more to give the club yet. The five-time All-Australian celebrated his 32nd birthday on Monday and was confident he could still play some of his best footy well into next year.
“I’ve got another year on my contract, so I’ll see what happens there, but at the moment, I’m pretty … happy if I get through that,” McLeod said.
“Blighty (Malcolm Blight) always used to say, ‘your next game will be your best game’ and I think that rings true.”
