HE IS the Riverland warrior and his impression on South Australian football, indeed, national football, cuts deep… so deep it cannot be erased.

And Mark Ricciuto also has permanent reminders of his decorated career all over his battle-weary body, but none more visible than the indelible mark on his left shoulder blade.

It's not a scar from an on-field collision - although he has plenty of those - nor is it the remnants of the 'running repairs' surgeons performed on him over the years to prolong his remarkable 312-game career.

It's a 14-year-old tattoo, and the events leading up to the Adelaide champion acquiring the mean-looking inkwork caused him more pain than any football injury ever did.

It was August, 1997, and the third-placed Crows were preparing for their best tilt at a premiership since losing to Essendon in the preliminary final in Ricciuto's debut season in 1993.

The burly half-back flanker, who had been encouraged to use his aggression and play as an 'enforcer' under former coach Robert Shaw, had developed into a an influential midfielder under the guidance of new mentor Malcolm Blight.

He enjoyed a career-best start to the year, but a nagging groin complaint prematurely ended his season after round 21.

He had surgery to repair two hernias and watched from a wheelchair, as the Crows came from behind to beat the Western Bulldogs in the preliminary final and march into their first Grand Final.

On Grand Final day, he fought back tears when the final siren sounded on the club's historic 31-point win over minor premier St Kilda.

"It was probably the hardest thing I'd ever had to deal with in my life at that stage," Ricciuto told afl.com.au.

"My whole dream was to win a premiership and when it gets cut short by injury it's a hard thing to deal with."

While his teammates got premiership tattoos, Ricciuto had the image of a horned-creature with vicious teeth, surrounded by angry flames tattooed onto his shoulder blade.

"I think I got 10 hours of tattoos done in the week afterwards to try and take my mind off it," he said.

"It was an injection of pain to try and take the pain of missing out away."

Fortunately the footy gods, which had so cruelly turned on Ricciuto in the lead up to the finals in 1997, smiled kindly on him the next year.

Adelaide was able to do what no other team had done before (or has done since), coming from outside the top-four (fifth) at the end of the minor round and win three consecutive finals away from home to earn the right to play minor premier North Melbourne in the decider.

The Crows were given little chance of upsetting Wayne Carey and his fancied Kangaroos, but in similar style to 1997 came from behind at half time to cause a boilover on the last Saturday in September.

Ricciuto had received a rare second chance, and was finally able to get the premiership tattoo he had wanted all along.

"I think you only have to win one premiership to experience it. If you win more than one it's great, but to some degree I was a happy man forever after that day," he said.

"There was a sense of I haven't missed out now and I've got to experience the pinnacle of football.

"I wanted to win another one towards the end of my career because it means more when you're captain and have been around for a bit longer, but I left the game with no regrets knowing that I did get the opportunity to win at least one."

Playing AFL and winning a premiership had been Ricciuto's purpose in life since childhood.

The talented junior had showed promise from an early age, rising through the ranks of the Wakerie Magpies in the Riverland Football League and was eventually coaxed out to SANFL club West Adelaide at the age of 16.

From there his rise to elite AFL status was rapid.

He made his debut for the Crows as a 17-year-old, and earned his first All Australian crown in only his second season (1994).

By the year 2000, the imposing onballer had won a premiership, a best and fairest award, earned four All-Australian selections and been named as Adelaide's player of the decade.

He commanded respect from teammates and opponents alike with his inspirational style of play.

When the Crows needed a lift in the midfield, Ricciuto would inject himself into the contest and win the ball and when his team needed a goal he would lead strongly from the goalsquare, mark the ball on his chest and take his trademark skip in the approach before launching the ball off his lethal right foot.

Such team-lifting attributes made him the obvious candidate to replace to premiership captain Mark Bickley when he stood down from the role ahead of the 2001 season.

"One of Mark's strengths was his ability to lead the way and lead by example," former coach Neil Craig said.

"He was a leader in a traditional mould. His style was 'get out the way, I'll do it. Follow me guys'.

"Anyone, who has played the game, would enjoy playing with Mark Ricciuto because of the way he plays. You wanted to be out there with Mark."

Craig's first contact with Ricciuto was in his role as fitness coach of the Crows in the premiership year of 1997.

Craig and Blight devised a plan to transform Adelaide into the fittest team in the competition, putting the players through one of the most gruelling pre-season in the club's history.

"Back when Malcolm started we trained three days a week, but crammed a week's worth of work in three days," Craig said.

"It was quite barbaric some of the work we put the guys through and Mark just lapped it up.

"His ability to physically punish himself at training, and also to take the field with injury and still have an elite performance was quite incredible- the best I've seen."

Ricciuto's high pain-threshold allowed him reach the 300-game milestone quicker than any other player in history.

Injuries eventually got the better of the Crows No.32 and forced his retirement in late 2007, but not before he'd received football's highest individual honour.

In 2003, after two top-five finishes, Ricciuto won the Brownlow Medal alongside Collingwood legend Nathan Buckley and Sydney Swans superstar Adam Goodes.

"People ask whether sharing the Brownlow took away from the experience, but for me it added something," Ricciuto said.

"I've always liked doing things with my mates and if you were going to share a Brownlow with anyone, Bucks and Goodesy are two great people to share it with.

It was a great night and we always have a laugh together when we see each other."

Ricciuto added another piece of silverware to his over-crowded trophy cabinet following his retirement, winning one last premiership with Waikerie 17 years after winning his first.

The football commentator and hotel owner also made several appearances for Prince Alfred Old Collegians in the SA Amateur League, holding down a key-forward post much like he had done in his latter years with the Crows.

He initially thought his foray into lower levels of the game would make him ineligible to be inducted into the AFL's Hall of Fame this year, and was surprised to receive word to the contrary.

"I thought because I'd played a little bit of country footy and mucked around with a couple of clubs [since retiring] if it was ever going to happen I wouldn't be eligible for a few more years time," he said.

"It was certainly a very pleasant surprise and I'm extremely honoured."

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL