Sydney Swans star, Brownlow Medal-winner and former Australian Of The Year Adam Goodes is considering retirement from the AFL, thanks to the constant booing that has become common practice every time he gets near the ball.
Overnight, Goodes reportedly told his his Swans teammates that he may step down from the sport he loves, thanks to the personal toll that the abuse has taken, as well as its effects on overall team morale.
During a Sunday match, fellow Swans player Lewis Jetta became so fed-up with a hostile West Coast Eagles crowd that he performed an indigenous war dance, and mimed throwing a spear in the direction of the stands.
Goodes missed yesterday’s training session, and has already been given time off by his team; overnight, Fairfax spoke to former Swans player Michael O’Loughlin, who said his mate is “battling.”
“He is really struggling mentally and physically,” O’Loughlin said. “There’s only so much a man can take before his legs start to buckle. I am catching up with him tonight to tell him he has a lot of support. I am not seeing him about his career but as a mate.”
O’Loughlin said that he is now embarrassed to take his family to away games, and in a fiery statement, said that he believes the abuse against Goodes clearly has a racial element:
“I hope the world takes notice of this. This isn’t a WA thing or an AFL thing – it’s an Australian issue. To be called an Abo, a nigger, a black so and so, for your entire life, and then expected to sit there and accept it, it’s a reflection on Australia and where we are as a country.”“For people to say it’s not racist … What else can it be? They are booing someone who is a dual Brownlow medallist and someone who has a hundred other accolades. They are booing someone who has done so much to make sure kids get a better education. They are booing someone who has given so much more back to the game than many others.”“I read about one fan who was evicted after yelling out, ‘Get back to the zoo’. He was just ‘banter’. What absolute garbage. Because someone like Adam doesn’t sit in the corner and accept it – and neither would I – he is booed.”“I won’t be taking my children to watch football interstate until that stops. My mate is copping it everywhere he goes.”
Goodes has not yet spoken publicly on whether he will play out his last season with the Swans.
via Fairfax
Photo: Cameron Spencer via Getty Images
Photo: Cameron Spencer via Getty Images
