1998 Grand Final quotes
Mark Bickley: “The learned people will tell you it’s harder to do it again. And this year was certainly a lot harder. So I think the achievement in itself is a lot greater. And there is an enormous sense of satisfaction.”
Kane Johnson: “When I sit down and finish footy, I’ll realise how lucky I was to play in a couple of premierships.”
Nigel Smart: “I just kept yelling at myself to push through the pain – and somehow it worked.”
Peter Caven: “I still can’t believe it. The year’s gone so quickly. And Blighty … at half-time he just looked at us and went straight to the heart. We just didn’t want to let up.”
Tyson Edwards: “Malcolm said, ‘we’re not going to win if we don’t take any risks’, so we started taking a few risks.”
Shane Ellen: “I really feel for Mark Ricciuto and Peter Vardy. It’s great they got the opportunity to win a premiership.”
Peter Vardy: “I got through and persevered with it … luckily I kept getting picked. It’s amazing. First of all to get into it and then to win it.”
Simon Goodwin: “I think Blighty must be a genius now. He’s done it two years in a row.”
James Thiessen: “Blighty said this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for a lot of you and you have just got to go for it.”
Andrew McLeod: “The Norm Smith Medals are a bonus if you’re playing well. The premiership medal is the ultimate. I’m prouder to have a second premiership medal.”
Matthew Robran: “I couldn’t imagine anything better than this.”
Mark Ricciuto: “It was the lowest day of my career last year and this year is probably the highlight of my career. I will savor every moment. It’s a huge effort to win back to back in a competition as ruthless as the AFL.”
David Pittman: “They (North) were probably unfortunate they weren’t more accurate in the first half, which in a sense could have closed the door on us. It was an unbelievable comeback.”
Shaun Rehn: “I am stuck for words. I can’t believe we have done what we have just done. That was one of the best wins the Adelaide Footy Club has ever had.”
Darren Jarman: “There were two halves in this game – North Melbourne’s and ours. Our half was best.”
Matt Connell: “Three weeks ago this was not possible after we lost to Melbourne.”
Brett James: “We knew what to expect a bit more. Beating North Melbourne … we understood the achievement a bit better.”
Andrew Eccles: “When we won it last year I thought ‘not many sides win it back-to-back’ so I thought my chance might have slipped for a couple of years.”
Mark Stevens: “I was just itching to get out there, especially against the old team.”
Ben Marsh: “It’s pretty special, isn’t it? It just proves anything can happen.”