AFL great Tony Modra: Former Adelaide and Fremantle player in serious condition after SA truck accident
One of the AFL's most beloved figures is in hospital in a serious condition after being involved in a truck accident.
AFL great Tony Modra has been seriously injured in a truck accident on his South Australian property.
Modra, renowned as one of the AFL’s most brilliant players in a career spanning 1992 to 2001 at Adelaide and Fremantle, is in hospital in a serious condition with undisclosed injuries on Thursday night.
Modra was driving a truck on his property at Back Valley, about 90km south of Adelaide, when the vehicle struck a tree about 5.15pm ACST (5.45pm AEST) on Thursday.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“Police and emergency services responded to reports that a truck had crashed into a tree at Range Road, Back Valley,” South Australian Police said in a statement.
“The driver and sole occupant of the truck, a 57-year-old man from Waitpinga, was taken to hospital for treatment for serious injuries.”
Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir, who played alongside Modra at the Dockers from 1999 to 2001, was shocked by the news.
“It’s pretty fresh for me like it is for everyone,” Longmuir said after Fremantle’s nine-point win over Geelong on Thursday night.
“He’s obviously a big part of the Freo family, and all I can say is I wish him and his family well.
“Hopefully, he can pull through. I’m thinking of him. We’re all thinking of him and his family.”
Modra has lived on a beef and cattle farm at Waitpinga since 2003.
He shot to AFL fame with Adelaide, becoming renowned as one of the game’s greatest drawcards for his spectacular high marking and prolific goal-kicking when playing for the Crows between 1992 and 1998.
A star forward, he booted a 129 goals in the 1993 season, but was sidelined by a knee injury when the Crows won their first premiership in 1997.
The next season, Adelaide again won the premiership but Modra didn’t play in the grand final after being infamously dropped from the team by coach Malcolm Blight after a qualifying final.
At the end of the 1998 season, Modra left for Fremantle, where he played another 47 games, kicking 148 goals across three seasons before retiring because of ongoing knee injuries.
Modra returned to live in South Australia and was welcomed back at the Crows, where he remains one of the club’s most beloved figures.
A dual All Australian and five-time Crows leading goalkicker, Modra, who was born in McLaren Vale, south of Adelaide, kicked 588 goals in 165 AFL games.
