Andrew McLeod Biography

Andrew McLeod will chair the five-person panel that will decide the winner of the Norm Smith medal in the 2022 AFL Grand Final between Geelong and Sydney.

McLeod will be joined on the panel by Jonathan Brown and David Mundy, as well as former Adelaide AFLW player and Seven Network commentator Abbey Holmes and Michael Gleeson from The Age.

In an interview with Yokayi Footy, Andrew McLeod says Michael McLean was a huge inspiration to him.

"My idol was Michael Mclean, number 51. I loved watching him play. He always gave me time when he came home," McLeod said.

"Seeing him on TV on the Winners and then when he came home you got to sit down with him and have a chat. He'd talk about what training you needed to do and the big league. I still keep in touch with him."

Dual Norm Smith medallist Andrew McLeod will present the award to the player adjudged best afield in the 2015 Grand Final.

The League also revealed retired Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes as this year's premiership cup ambassador, while Carlton legend Robert Walls will present the Jock McHale Medal to the winning coach.

Andrew McLeod's house is an "oasis" to Adelaide's indigenous players, according to emerging midfielder Cam Ellis-Yolmen.

McLeod has been a terrific friend to the club's indigenous players in recent seasons.

"It's an oasis, it's awesome to be able to go and chill out with one of your favourite players and then hang out with Eddie and Charlie and Anthony outside of football," Ellis-Yolmen said.

"Growing up he was always my favourite player so it's awesome to be at the same club as him and be sitting next to him (at the press conference).

"He's a role model for so many indigenous players around the country."

Mark Ricciuto and Andrew McLeod are among eight inaugural inductees honoured with a place in the Adelaide Crows' Hall of Fame on Wednesday night at a lavish function at the Entertainment Centre.

The club's inaugural CEO Bill Sanders, inaugural chairman Bob Hammond, dual premiership coach Malcolm Blight, and players Ben Hart, Tony Modra and Simon Goodwin were the club's other inductees.

Charlie Cameron will wear Adelaide's coveted No.23 jumper in 2015, made famous by Crows champion Andrew McLeod.

"Everyone knows how special this number is. I'm really excited to wear it because Andrew McLeod is one of the greatest players ever," Cameron said.

"Andrew is really good to me and has helped me out a lot since I got here. I look up to him and what he has achieved on and off the field."

A humble McLeod, however, played down the significance of his former jumper.

"I told Charlie it's not my jumper to give … I'm not the owner of it. I was just its custodian for a while," McLeod said.

"I'm pleased that Charlie will be wearing the No.23, but I'd be happy with whoever had it. For me, it's just nice that guys want to wear it."

Ex-Crow Andrew McLeod says he is devastated by the racism row that has enveloped his former club after Adelaide's recruitment manager, Matthew Rendell, was forced to step down over offensive comments related to the recruitment of Aboriginals.

"I am very shattered that my football club has been questioned over its attitude to not recruit Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island players if they have two black parents," McLeod told Adelaide radio station 5AA.

"If this was the case and I had an inkling that my club was racist, I wouldn't have spent 16 years in that establishment.

"The likes of Bill Sanders, Steven Trigg, Phil Harper, John Reid, Malcolm Blight and Neil Craig to name but a few would and should be livid - they have gone above and beyond to recruit Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players.

"I simply cannot sit by and let a club I consider like family, a place that I was nurtured in and gave me an opportunity to achieve a boyhood dream without any bias or prejudice, be dragged through the mud and have its name tarnished as racist."

Adelaide champion Andrew McLeod has signed with the NT Thunder in the Brisbane-based NEAFL.

McLeod will play for Thunder in the AFL's new Foxtel Cup which pits the best teams from state leagues around the country against each other in a FA Cup-style knockout format.

Retired champion Andrew McLeod says indigenous people should look to participate in executive and coaching roles in the AFL as part of their next step in an address to the United Nations forum on racism in sport.

"The next step for Indigenous people in the AFL is to look for other ways to be involved, we have no representations at a board level in any of the 17 Clubs, no representation on the executive committees and we don't hold any current coaching positions, this is another agenda we must address," McLeod said.

Andrew McLeod says the AFL's stance against racism is a key reason for the increase in the number indigenous players participating in the sport at the highest level.

"It's given an opportunity for guys to come into the system and be on a level playing field," McLeod said.

"It was something that the AFL might have been a little bit slow in developing, but certainly over the last 10 years or so it's become world's best practice when it comes to combatting racism."

Indigenous games record-holder Andrew McLeod will take the AFL's award-winning policy on racism to Geneva where he will address the UN rights council.

"It's a great opportunity and very exciting, but it's a bit daunting too...I still haven't got my head around it," McLeod said.

"When you think of Geneva you think the Geneva Convention and of all of the delegates and people that are involved with it.

"I'm just looking forward to being able to represent the AFL and everybody involved with the AFL."

Andrew McLeod takes part in coaching a group of indigenous youngsters in an Oceania football carnival in Tonga.

"I love what I get to do in this program. Having the chance to have a positive influence on these kids is very rewarding for myself and all the support staff on this trip," McLeod said.

"We talk a lot to these boys about how they can influence people and we've been passing on our experiences and been trying to teach a whole range of life skills as well as footy."

Retired champions Brett Kirk and Andrew McLeod have accepted new positions with the AFL.

Kirk has been appointed as an AFL ambassador and will travel internationally next year promoting the International Cup.

"The role encapsulates a lot of different things, including going on a journey with my family and telling their story and taking people on an adventure through my eyes," Kirk said.

"I just want to help the AFL showcase to people what our game can do and work towards taking our game to other countries."

McLeod will work as a community engagement and talent co-ordinator in national projects such as the Indigenous and Multicultural Combines.

"This is something I am passionate about and have wanted to do for some time," McLeod said.

"The opportunity to give something back to the game and the community is truly exciting."

Andrew McLeod has played his last game of AFL football, confirming he will not be available for selection against the Crows' round 22 clash against St Kilda.

"I'm not confident that my knee is up to playing this week, let alone get through the game," McLeod said.

"I haven't been able to train properly for a long time. A new era has also started at the club and I don't want to stop a younger player from playing on Saturday."

Adelaide coach Neil Craig paid tribute to McLeod's career that has defied the odds and withstood physical turmoil to last 340 games.

"His record is outstanding. His ability to play high quality football at the top level for so long has been remarkable," Craig said.

"Great players make their mark on the biggest stage and he certainly did that."

Andrew McLeod says his troublesome knee has finally forced him into retirement after being succesfully managed over 6 or 7 years.

"I was talking to Craigy last night and he used the analogy of a tube of toothpaste. He said I'd rolled the tube up, sucked the toothpaste out and got as much as I could out of it. I suppose that's what I've done with my knee," McLeod said.

"I tried to get the better of the injury and get on top of it, but unfortunately this year it got the better of me and it didn't work out. It would be nice to have the fairytale [finish], but I couldn't have asked for a better career or a better place to finish up."

In his upcoming biography, Andrew McLeod says his character was tainted by the Crows' inaction over his feud with teammate Tyson Edwards.

"It is almost impossible to believe that the club was unaware that two of its champions were not speaking to each other,'' McLeod said.

Edwards' wife, Mandy, had signed an affidavit supporting tennis player Lleyton Hewitt after McLeod had taken legal action over the use of footage of them at sacred indigenous sites.

"I said to Tyson, 'Why would you put a friendship that you and I have had for over 10 years in jeopardy and why would Mandy go into court against us and talk about something she knows nothing about?','' McLeod says in the book.

"They (the Edwards') basically chose a four or five month friendship over a 10-year relationship. We just couldn't believe it.''

Crows coach Neil Craig believes Andrew McLeod's career is not over despite a knee operation putting the ageing star's season in doubt.

"Andrew is very clear in his mind about what he wants to do for the rest of the year, which I think is a good, healthy attitude to have," Craig said.

"He'll get back on the track and we'll have a look at his training form and how well he's moving. Then we'll make a call on selection as to whether he needs a game back at the Port Magpies or if he comes straight back in."

Andrew McLeod appears unlikely to reach the 350-game milestone after being booked for arthroscopy to examine his right knee.

McLeod, currently on 339 games, would have had to have played every remaining game this season to reach the milestone as the Crows appear unlikely to make the finals.

It is Andrew McLeod's sixteenth season but he has revealed that he is not thinking about retirement as the 2010 AFL season begins.

"Retirement is not something I'm thinking about at the moment," McLeod said in a chat session on afc.com.au.

"Although I am the oldest bloke at the club and one day it will be inevitable, there's still a bit left in this old dog...

"I'm not sure about the last year thing. I try not to worry about that too much. I just want to help the Crows be as successful as possible this year before anything else."

A depleted Adelaide is confident champion Andrew McLeod will be a dangerous part of its early season forward mix after observing the veteran in a NAB Challenge match against Collingwood.

"Andrew played half of his game against Collingwood last week in the front half and his defensive action, his tackling and his pressure around the ground-ball in those sort of conditions was just exceptional," Noble said.

"I think you'd be more than happy to have him lining up forward for you against any opposition."

Kurt Tippett signs three-year contract extension with Adelaide to stave off overtures from the Gold Coast while veterans Brett Burton, Andrew McLeod, Simon Goodwin and Tyson Edwards re-sign to play on for one year.

The re-signings were announced at the club's 2009 best and fairest awards with club champion Bernie Vince saying he was always confident of Tippett staying.

"I was in Kurt's ear every day for him to stay. It came down to his decision, but I always had faith he would stay," Vince said.

"He gets on really well with everyone here and I even told people back home [in Stansbury] that I'd be really surprised if he left at any stage."

Adelaide captain Simon Goodwin says that the Crows over 30 including himself, Tyson Edwards, Andrew McLeod and Brett Burton feel like they have unfinished business after losing a semi-final in heartbreaking fashion to Collingwood.

"All four of us are reasonably keen to go on, but at the same time I don't think anyone of us have had a conversation with the footy club or sat down and done our review yet," Goodwin said.

"The result from the weekend is certainly painful. You feel as a player that there's some unfinished business there... there's some unfinished business there that we'd like to contribute towards."

Adelaide veteran says belief and work ethic contributed to his stunning return form that capped off a scintillating 30-disposal performance against the Bombers in the elimination final at AAMI Stadium.

"Sometimes you work pretty hard and you don't get the reward, but somewhere down the track it's going to come. I've been lucky that I've got some reward for hard work over the past few weeks," McLeod said.

"Everyone plays their role and you might not get the recognition from outside the footy club, but certainly inside you do. You don't get caught up in what other people think. You listen to your coaches because what they say is gospel."

At 32 and about to play his record-breaking 313th Crow game - Andrew McLeod is still being tagged.

"I look forward to those challenges and it's nice to have teams still show that respect, but for me I've obviously got a picture in my head and 'Craigy' does as well of what he expects, what I expect, how I play, and I've been pretty happy with it.

"There's been a couple of games not up to scratch this year but I've been happy with the last couple of games."

On Saturday, McLeod will become the Crows' record-holder when he lines up in his 313th appearance for the club.

"It would be a tough ask for someone to play 300 games, especially with the way teams are playing now," McLeod said on Wednesday.

"It's very high impact so it's a lot harder to play. I probably will be surprised to see someone in the modern era play 300 games, but who's to say someone won't?"

Adelaide expect the Indigenous All-Stars to use key Crow Andrew McLeod only sparingly when he captains the side in Darwin on Saturday.