That mix of ego and passion.

But we culturally frown on anyone stepping out of the vanilla mould in Australian sport.

We like our athletes to be fantastic team players, but the moment they show a little individuality, we cut them down amid an en masse furore that would outweigh the initial crowd reaction they sparked.

You have had a week to digest decorated Sydney Swan and former North Ballarat Rebel Adam Goodes' war dance at the SCG last Friday night.

Put aside the debate on racial and Indigenous appropriateness and the premeditated move itself has created a stir.

AFL legend Leigh Matthews called for "on-field performers" to leave the crowd out of it.

Collingwood president Eddie McGuire, speaking on Fox Footy, said: "We've never seen that before and I don't think we ever want to see it again to be perfectly honest, no matter what it is."

A Carlton cheer squad spokesman told Channel Seven on Sunday that some women were spooked when Goodes ran towards them in his goal celebration.

It was hardly like Goodes jumped the fence or launched a real spear in the Carlton fans' direction.

But it was a war dance and just because we have not seen an Indigenous one quite like this in the AFL should not mean the move be eternally barred.

Interestingly, in the week that has followed, the AFL has honoured one of the game's great showmen, with Brisbane Lions' triple premiership player Jason Akermanis, who bowed out as a Western Bulldog, inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame.

Akermanis' football was clever, his look distinctive with that shock of bleached blond hair, but it was

his signature celebration move the fans remember most.

The Akermanis hand-stand.

"I started doing hand-stands and you can say what you want about it. As silly and as individual as it can be portrayed, it meant we won," Akermanis said, quoted by News Limited on Friday.

"I sold more Cokes and more hotdogs than anyone at the Gabba because they all stuck around, no one left before the game was finished, so they should thank me for that one."

When he moved to the Bulldogs, the handstand was one of the first things in his game to go. Some of his Bulldogs teammates had thought the post-match celebration detracted from the team effort.

The thing about inciting a crowd, though, is you have to be able to back it up.

Otherwise the crowd and the media can really rip you to pieces.

Playing up to fans can, with the right timing, really add to the atmosphere of a match.

You either really love the protagonist or love to hate them there is little middle ground.

Tennis used to be spoilt for on-court characters.

John McEnroe is the obvious and perhaps the extreme.

Remember the bandana-wearing Australian Andrew Ilie and his shirt-ripping antics? He was a cult-like fan favourite at the Australian Open a decade ago, known for packing fans into the outside showcourts.

Nowadays, there is still the colour on the professional circuit, just not as much sting.

Booing is a contentious fan reaction, especially if misdirected like the crowd response shown to Goodes this AFL season.

But booing can also be a fantastic response.

If rival fans got stuck into Akermanis for his handstand, it meant he was doing something right Brisbane had won and he was obviously still relatively unscathed from the encounter.

He could make a statement and back it up with his game that drives rival fans wild in frustration and is all part of the fun.

AFL footballers are so well-drilled in generic responses . Do we really want to cut out genuine on-field expression, too?

This does not mean all clubs need a war-dancing, handstanding showman that would merely be too contrived.

If clubs are lucky enough to have a high-quality gem who draws in fans who love them or love to hate them, it all adds to the game-day experience.

Guaranteed, there will be an increased interest in Sydney's trip to the Gold Coast on Saturday afternoon just in case Goodes feels the need to break out in dance again.

melanie.whelan@fairfaxmedia.com.au