match, Malcolm Blight sensed McLeod would be even more damaging in a midfield role. Making full use of his pace, agility and ball-winning skills, McLeod kept his side in the game when the Saints looked to pull away, and then continued to pump the ball into attack as the Crows eventually took control in the second half. He finished the game with 18 kicks, 13 handpasses and 11 marks. Shane Ellen, typically a defensive player for the Crows, provided a cameo at full-forward in place of Modra and finished with five goals, while Darren Jarman booted a grand final record of five in the last quarter, taking him to six for the match and sealing the game. Other influential Crows players included Shaun Rehn, Kane Johnson, David Pittman, Troy Bond and Ben Hart. St Kilda defender Justin Peckett, reflecting on the game over 20 years later, admitted to feeling an ominous sense of dread in the second half as the Crows finished the game strongly: My memories going into the day was one of super excitement and then it became an absolute nightmare in that second half. When the siren blows it’s the worst experience that you’ve ever had, so you get all of that in the one day. As the game was unfolding in that second half in particular, you get the sense that this is it, we’re done, it’s devastating. In 2020, AFL journalist Damian Barrett rated Jarman's five-goal last quarter as the most memorable finals moment he had witnessed, calling it "the greatest individual quarter ever played" and claiming that there was no chance the Crows would have won the premiership without him. Scorecard See also 1997 AFL season References Bibliography External Links VFL/AFL Grand Finals Adelaide Football Club St Kilda Football Club 1997 Australian Football League season Afl Grand Final, 1997