Adam Goodes: no fanfare, not enough fair fans

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Adam Goodes has chosen to fade out of the game, without fanfare on the night and eschewing any ceremony in the next fortnight of football celebrations. Whether his decision to forgo a farewell flourish was a consequence of the invective infamously directed at him this season or merely his informal way doesn't really matter. The mark that he has made on the game and on Australia will never fade.

Ultimately, the boo-gans will be seen to have been on the wrong side of history. Though comparisons are difficult and never can be precise, Goodes may come to occupy the same place in Australian social history as baseballer Jackie Robinson in the US.

Those who Adam Goodes made uncomfortable need to ask themselves why. Photo: Getty Images

Goodes was not a pioneer as Robinson was when he became the first black man to appear in the major leagues in the 20th century. Nor did he have to deal with segregation in the street, and overt racism in his own dressing room, as did Robinson.

But, like Robinson, Goodes was an authentically great player – arguably the best Indigenous player of all, and that's saying something. Like Robinson, he was also uncompromisingly his own man. Like Robinson, he made made his countryfolk look in the mirror. He made his own people proud, and, evidently, lots of others uncomfortable.

Those who Goodes made uncomfortable need to ask themselves why. I don't accept for a minute that it was just because of his antics as a footballer. Many other footballers have been booed for much worse antics, but none in my memory copped it in such a pre-emptive, sustained and universal way.

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The great career of Adam Goodes

A selection of images from the career of AFL and Sydney Swans great Adam Goodes.  Photo: Stefan Postles

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That leaves only two explanations: it was an expression of something much more fundamental — which can only be Goodes' stance against racism — or, just as reprehensibly, an expression of something much more shallow, a mindless following of the herd while hiding behind its anonymity. Ultimately, it did hurt the man, at which point it became unequivocally bullying.

Either way, the booing campaign reflected poorly on contemporary Australian sporting culture. It made Goodes look like a divisive figure, but the division he exposed, essentially between views of how a black role model ought to conduct himself, is something we needed to admit and confront.

Robinson became a by-word for the fight against racial discrimination in the US, not to mention a much cherished player. He did not put everything right by himself, of course. But, wrote historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, "his accomplishments allowed black and white Americans to be more respectful and open to one another, and more appreciative of everyone's abilities".

As he slipped away on Saturday night, with the boos of some fans still in his ears, Goodes might not have felt so secure in his legacy. But the boos will die away like the cowardly puffs they are, and he will be seen and remembered as a towering figure.