IT'S BEEN 23 years, but Mark Bickley still hasn't been able to completely forgive James Gallagher for stealing his "freaking moment".

They're the best of mates these days in Adelaide. Even their kids go to the same school. And they agree on most things, except when it comes to the goal that "iced the game" for Adelaide at what is now GMHBA Stadium in Geelong back on June 1, 2003 – the last time the Crows won at the venue.

In Bickley's defence, it's quite evidently a goal-scoring opportunity that gets created solely because of a characteristically pugnacious tackle that he lays on Geelong defender Tom Harley. At a crucial point in the game, too, with the Cats having made a stunning comeback in the final term. And Geelong are four points adrift, trailing 59-63 with five-and-a-half minutes left on the clock when the umpire penalises Harley for holding the ball.

This is how Bickley recalls the setup to the eventual goal. "They tried to come back through the middle of the ground and when I wrapped up one of his (Harley's) arms. The ball spilt free around 30 metres out from goal, and when the umpire paid it, I am thinking I can go back and ice this game."

Only for Gallagher to swoop in, "like a little seagull on a chip" in Bickley's words, pick up the footy and kick the sealer for the Crows. 

Gallagher is a Crows board member these days. He generally underplays his playing career in the AFL, describing himself as a "fringe player" who would run around like a "little housefly" once the good players had run out of steam. But he does stand up for himself, when he's accused of having stolen a goal from his great mate in what has retrospectively become a rather significant match. 

"I certainly didn't steal it. Having seen a replay of it, I can say it's clearly my goal. When you're sort of a fringe player like me, you had to make the most of every opportunity. So, I thought, yeah, I'll have a crack at this," is Gallagher's take on what was one of 11 goals he kicked in his 38-game AFL career for the Crows. 

The only reason for Gallagher's late strike at Kardinia Park to have even become a bone of contention between the two Crows diehards is because of its unexpected return to TV screens in the last few years. If anything, it should have been a goal lost somewhere in the vast reaches of AFL nostalgia. If only it hadn't been the "sealer" in what still remains the club's most recent victory in Geelong, nearly a quarter of a century later.  

As Bickley and Gallagher admit, they'd both more or less forgotten about it till recently. 

"It's felt like in the last 3-4 years every time we've been about to play in Geelong, I've joked with him that I'll have to watch you on TV kick that goal because it's the same bit of vision the news channels seem to find," says Bickley with a chuckle. 

Even Gallagher himself only was reacquainted with his moment of glory because of the delayed significance that's been attached to it. 

"I had no recollection of that until three or four years ago, till I reckon when I started getting these text messages about 'my goal' in Geelong simply because us not winning there for a while had become a thing," he adds. 

You can't blame him either. Nor Bickley for that matter when he struggles to bring up any other specific memory from that Round 10 clash on a breezy Sunday afternoon in June 2003. 

For, it truly was a rather unremarkable game, which does exist in its entirety on YouTube. Eddie McGuire on commentary probably hammers that point in best when he sums up the game at the final siren insisting that it's "not a game for the video highlights". If anything, there's more zest in his voice as he announces that there would be greater joy in Adelaide because all the non-Victorian clubs have beaten the Victorian teams that weekend. 

Ironically, he also then declares that "they (Crows) won't be looking back in a few years at it." It's mainly to do with the fact that the Crows had gone into the match as favourites against a young Geelong outfit, full of future Hall of Famers. Not to forget having won two out of the previous three games at that venue. 

True to McGuire's proclamation, nobody (Crows included), did bother looking back at the 17-point win with any great interest for nearly two decades. And it's only recently that it's become its own mythology purely due to Adelaide's failure to get over the line since at what has been their bogey venue. Or the Crows' "Bermuda Triangle", as their two-time premiership winning captain labels it. 

"I'd like to go and see what the petrol prices were back in 2003," Bickley quips before adding, "It's been ridiculous when you think about that having been my last year of playing. I don't think it became a thing before 2023 when it reached a major milestone of 20 years, two decades, that seems like a bloody long time."

He recalls the distinct difference in terms of experience between the two teams back in 2003, and how that manifested in the expected outcome. 

"The nucleus of Geelong's 2007 breakthrough premiership side was just emerging during that rebuilding phase. So, we were playing against a whole lot of young kids. We still had a lot of the premiership players like Simon Goodwin and Mark Ricciuto and Andrew McLeod, who'd all played 100 to 150 games. They were in their prime," he explains. 

Gallagher, too, recalls 2003 probably having been the year when you could see the genesis of an extraordinary Cats team that was to dominate the AFL for many long years. And he agrees with the win for Adelaide having been along predicted lines: "It was sort of like 'that's a win, so move on, who's next?'"

What Bickley does reminisce about is the pride the Crows outfit would take in overcoming the challenges of playing in Kardinia Park, which remains the last bastion of a suburban ground in the AFL universe. 

"It's always windy and often wet over there. The breeze played a big role even in that game I can remember. It's a skinny, cigar-shaped oval there. Sometimes you get caught having these real shallow entries. That's where someone like Tom Stewart for them has been so effective at the back," Bickley explains. 

The reasons for Geelong's indomitable run since 2003 on home soil are diverse but Gallagher and Bickley put it down mainly to the Cats' dominance in this century after a slow start. 

"Geelong have always been pretty strong during the period. So if you think about Chris Scott arrived in 11 and they probably missed the finals two or three times in the next 14 years. And they especially play their conditions better than anyone," says Bickley. 

Gallagher acknowledges that the Cats have mostly been a better team than the Crows in the last two decades as their stats prove. But he doesn't want to read too much into his team's drought at that particular venue. 

"I'd be more surprised if we had a losing streak against North Melbourne or someone like that," he says. 

Bickley extends that argument back towards what has ailed the Crows for all these long years. And their failure to break the rut despite having had some strong seasons overall. 

"I often reflect and think about in 2003 we finished sixth. And in 2002, we were third. There's been some great sides since then. So the '05 and '06 sides finished first and second at the end of the [home and away season] and led by Neil Craig were phenomenal, played prelims both years. And then you get to 2012, we made a prelim as well and won 16 games for the year but still couldn't win down there. Made the Grand Final in 2017," Bickley says.

"So it's not like we've been like Essendon or Carlton or North Melbourne and had this extended period where we've been down the bottom. But you would have thought, one of those periods we would have broken through. But alas."

The Geelong hoodoo, Bickley admits, is a narrative that he has heard do the rounds within Crows' dressing rooms and with coaches, including Brenton Sanderson who played for Geelong in 2003, over the years. While some have brought it up, others have chosen to simply focus on it like any other game during the footy season. 

"You never look forward to playing down there. Over the journey, there's been some coaches that lean into it. Oh, we're going to break the drought. Then there's other times where they've said, oh, it's just another game. Just forget about it. So, it's interesting to see which way Matthew Nicks goes and say, you know what, this team is about firsts. And, you know, let's do this. It's been 23 years and, you know, really lean into it," he says.

Bickley has also seen coaches adopt different off-field ways to break the jinx but to no avail.

"We've done things like flown over the same day, flown into Avalon and driven down. There's other times we'd stayed, flown over the night before, stayed in Melbourne and bussed down," he says.

"And then with Sanderson, we went, flew over the day before, stayed in a hotel in Geelong. Another year, I reckon, we stayed in a hotel in Torquay. You know, two days before, we've done every combination possible, thinking that maybe it's the travel, maybe it's the routine or something. But in the end, it's what happens in the two hours when the siren blows."

Gallagher, meanwhile, is categorical in denying that extra impetus is put on any specific game within the Crows' camp and thinks of the 23-year-long wait as a mere "statistic". 

"It's more for the people outside the club to talk about. It's an interesting anomaly. But inside football clubs, it's very much one week at a time. You can't look too far ahead. I'm confident that Nicksy and the team have a plan in place this week to win, and hopefully we won't be back next year here having this conversation," Gallagher says. 

As we push Bickley and Gallagher to stretch their memories further about that now "historical win" in Geelong all those years ago, some sweet recollections do emerge. Like the starry performance from the Zimbabwe-born cult hero, Ian Perrie, affectionately known as 'the Sarge', in what would turned out to be his best game ever, collecting three Brownlow votes for his immense hard work up and down the field. Or even the bus ride back to the airport which involved a pitstop to the bottle shop, courtesy of team manager John Reid. 

"We got a dozen gallons of beer, and we savoured it. It was a different time in society as well. But look, football gives you more kicks up the arse than it gives you pats on the back. So, it's important to celebrate your wins," says Gallagher.

In hindsight, it feels even more monumental that they did make sure to savour that win. 

The thing with streaks in sport is that they develop organically in the background and by the time they actually surface, they are already self-sustaining entities that grow in notoriety with each passing year, whether it was The Undertaker at Wrestlemania or Geelong's long-running hold over the Crows at the Cattery. 

Bickley, for once, is confident that the time has come to put this streak to bed and is tipping Adelaide to get the victory. He's also backing ruck Lachie McAndrew to have a big impact after his impressive performances against Darcy Cameron and Tim English over the last two weeks. I ask him if above all he wants it over and done with so that he never has to see or debate the Gallagher goal from 2003 ever again. 

"Exactly right. I'm sick of it," he says. 

Even if the man who provided Adelaide with the vital 10-point lead to seal what has retrospectively become an epic victory isn't having any of it. 

"As good a player as Bicks was, and he was a champion, I was a far better kick than him. So everyone, the coach and all the teammates would have been far happier for me to take that kick rather than have him go back and try and nervously sort of inch one through with his ugly ball drop. So that's all I'll say," Gallagher says in response. 

As far as Bickley goes, being denied his "freaking moment" 23 years ago has meant that he's had nothing to hang his hat on with regards to the Adelaide in Geelong saga. And he can't wait for it to once and for all be sealed. 

"If I'd have gone back and slotted the goal, who knows maybe, I'd have hoped it rolls on forever. Since there's no glory for me, who cares? Let's get rid of it."