Sydney Swans great Adam Goodes says he is “incredibly disappointed” he gets booed in Melbourne and has no idea why it happens.
Dual Brownlow Medallist Goodes was booed by some spectators in the MCG crowd whenever he touched the ball in Sydney’s AFL match against Hawthorn last Saturday.
“It doesn’t affect me whilst I’m playing, but it affects my family, my partner and friends who are at the game and they are just trying to understand why,” said Goodes at the launch of the AFL indigenous round in Sydney on Tuesday.
“I don’t know why. You’d have to go around and ask all those Hawthorn supporters, the people who come to the ground, what their problem is with me.
“I look at it after the game and to think it’s still happening is incredibly disappointing.”
It’s not the first time Goodes has been booed in Melbourne and he was targeted for racial abuse in separate incidents at the MCG in 2013 and Etihad Stadium in 2014.
Although widely respected for his footballing talent and his support for reconciliation and social issues, the 2014 Australian of the Year isn’t universally popular.
Some pundits have accused him of staging to get free kicks and it seems not everyone appreciates him him speaking out on non-football issues.
AFL and indigenous icon Michael Long called Goodes a leader and a brilliant young man and said he was disappointed by some fans’ behaviour towards the Swans star.
“He’s had his challenges and people haven’t walked in his shoes,” Long said.
“People don’t see some of the great work he does off the field.
“I know the man. He’s got a great heart.
“I think people have got to look at themselves and think `why am I doing this?’”
Goodes described Dustin Fletcher’s 400th AFL appearance this weekend at the age of 40 as an amazing feat.
Goodes, who has played 357 games and is five years younger, said he couldn’t see himself playing to that age or achieving the rare quadruple century milestone.
Back to form in the last two weeks after a slow start to the season, Goodes said he could still get fitter.
Ken
Guest
Your right it's not racially motivated unless your at the ground and you hear some not all but some of those booing yell like feed him a banana. ,c..n,,abo and so forth than mate it's definitely racially motivated by some ,we left during that game cus I didn't want my kids listening to that rubbish,not all of that booing was racist but mate some of it definitely was.
andyl12
Guest
Possibly he does. Possibly he's developed a relationship with the umpires whereby they've basically told him what he can get away with. He wouldn't be the first- Joel Selwood has been like that all his career.
Pasta Bob
Guest
To me he is a footballer nothing else. If fans of other clubs don't like him they can boo him. Since when do have to mandate that people who pay money have to do exactly what political correctness dictates. If you keep this up, no one will watch the AFL. They can stay home and boo all they want in front of their TVs. He was good when he was younger but now he is old and not so good. He needs to stop crying about fans booing him. it's not a good look for a tough guy.
Daws
Guest
Um what part if of it do you not understand? Where in the progression of: racist taunt -> wait, racism is bad because it unjustly alienates and discriminates against fellow human beings -> stand up to racism: do you get lost?
jax
Guest
That's his fault is it? And we can all boo him because the umps don't award the free kicks the way that you would like them to? Does Goodes have any control over any of that?
jax
Guest
The girl was in high school. You can't try to tell me that she didn't know it was wrong to racially abuse someone? This incident happened not longer after the Eddie McGuire gaff on radio so it was a hot topic. Her age should not be used as an excuse.
jax
Guest
do you think that Goodes knew she was 13 by the sound of her voice while on the footy field? That would be a very special talent indeed. Even if he saw her - we all know that young girls often look much older than they are. He was in the middle of playing a game of footy and things happen very quickly out there. When he heard the slur he instinctively turned around and pointed to where the noise came from. When he realised her age (after the fact) he amended his response accordingly and try to hose things down. Irrespective, a racial slur is a racial slur and a 13yo should know better. That's high school age and don't try to tell me they don't know what they should and shouldn't say at high school. Her slur was inexcusable and I support Goodes 100% on this issue. It seems that some people just love to hate and boo the guy, shame on all of you.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
People don't like Goodes for a variety of reasons, but honestly whoever thinks it's purely motivated by racism isn't very sharp -- the vast majority of these same fans would almost certainly have cheered for indigenous players at the club they support.
Jerry
Guest
Someone with a slight bit of common sense, good to see clipper!!
Prefessor
Guest
Racism goes against common decency for me, I guess that shows the kind of man that you are Kirk.
Pope Paul VII
Guest
Probably the whole league would join in.
andyl12
Guest
PP VII- if there are particular Hawthorn players you want to boo for dirty play, do it. See how many others join in.
clipper
Guest
Lroy - I think that's a harsh view on many levels. From what's been posted here it seems some people are saying if you're under a certain age, there should be no consequences if you hurl racist / homophobic etc abuse. This is exactly the age you need to act before it becomes a lifetime accepted habit. I'm sure he didn't ignore all the other racist taunts and wait until an underage girl said it, just so he could embarrass her - would he have even known at the time? Unless there was some other descriptive word between weak and c**t, then that's a completely different scenario - why would it resonate as much as a taunt directed at specific races? I think at the time most people would know the abuse wasn't directed at him personally.
Ads
Guest
Goodes must have nude pictures of all the umpires because of what they let him get away with. He has been a protected species all his career.
Pope Paul VII
Guest
Very funny Andy, dirty play is written into Hawthorn's constitution.
Lroy
Guest
Well if Goodes wants to publicly shame a 13 year old girl then he can take whats coming... the golden rule is your job is to play footy, if you want to have a cry over fans hurting your feelings maybe you should get a new line of work. We heard some player the other night calling an opponent a ''weak c*&^t or something similar... why doesnt Goodes take a public stand over that??? Its because abuse is only abuse when its directed at him... when it involves someone else its all part of the game. Sorry, I dont respect the guy at all anymore. Im sure he wont lose any sleep over it, the same way I wont lose any sleep over people booing him.
Kirk
Guest
publicly shaming a 13 year old girl goes against common decency to me. Even pedophiles don't get publicly shamed and branded.
Get Real
Guest
Maybe Goodes should stop whining and simply accept the fact that many people do not like him end of story.
JM
Guest
I am not sure how many commentators and journalists understand the typical Australian response to being told that they shouldn't do something because it may offend. The lecturing perpetuates this stuff.
Crafty Clown
Guest
From memory, the booing really began after an incident where Goodes slid into Josh Gibson's knees. Gibson was visibly upset about it and made sure everyone saw what had occurred. It wasn't too long after the incident which left Gary Rohan with a broken leg. Considering all the fuss around what had happened in the Rohan incident, not much was made of the this in the media. Not until Dermott Brereton accused Goodes of leading 'with his feet' into contests quite regularly. The booing has only intensified since. I would think that one the big reasons for it's expansion is simply due to the snowball effect. Once it's known that someone is being booed at a sporting event, many fans join in for the same of joining in. Sure, there are most definitely people in that group that do it on the back of racist prejudice and people who just don't like the idea of Goodes winning Australian of the year. I look forward to someone in the media acknowledging where it all began. Booing opposition champions isn't anything new and it isn't purely a shallow racial statement. Unfortunately in these situations you're better off sensastionising the situation and condemning racism. Taking a position against racism makes the journalist look better and gets more exposure. So good. The worst thing about this whole saga is the continued need to condemn racism. Racism is a stain on us as a species.