ADAM Goodes' story late in his AFL career, if told well, should make us all uncomfortable.
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AFL players, including AFLPA president and Geelong star Patrick Dangerfield, are saying they remain sad at what unfolded and want The Final Quarter, released on Friday, to be a catalyst for change.
We like to celebrate how much the game and we, as a society, have evolved in proactively promoting indigenous culture and understanding.
But bubbling away there are still outbursts of racism towards indigenous players this season. Collingwood forward Travis Varcoe called out social media trolls on ABC's 7.30 program in April.
Are we another Goodes-like case away from it all unravelling once more?
The Final Quarter and upcoming Stan Grant film The Australian Dream both document the last three years of Goodes' career and allowed fan behaviour that drove him out of the game.
These films should be a stark call to arms for us all to commit to change. We all have a responsibility to show leadership in our communities, leadership that was sorely lacking in the game and society at the time.
We should not forget what Goodes endured, no matter how much it might make us squirm and re-evaluate what we each stand for.
The past two weeks in football has been a fantastic chance to celebrate indigenous players' contribution to the game and our communities at AFL and grassroots level. Sir Doug Nicholls round and the lead into national Reconciliation Week brings this to the fore.
Nineteen-year-old Tiger Sydney Stack leapt at the chance to take part in a pre-game war cry for Dreamtime at the 'G, a spectacle many fans are still marvelling as much as his athletic, dashing football ability. It was powerful.
It would be interesting how the crowd might respond now, should Stack break into a war-like movement in a pivotal part of a match. A little like Goodes when he made a war dance towards Carlton fans after kicking the first goal of the match in the AFL's 2015 indigenous round.
Or, would we still only appreciate a war-dance on safe, designated terms?
Goodes' passionate, proud gesture was likened by some as an act of violence. Media found scared old Blues' women. This was when the booing was reaching a fever pitch.
Goodes was a player prepared to stand up for what was right, even if not always popular.
He publicly called out racism in a taunt from a 13-year-old Collingwood fan.
A former Rebel, Goodes is proud of his whole legacy and a big part of that is Ballarat where he first showed leadership qualities on the field. Greater Western Victoria Rebels' best and fairest award in named in his honour and Goodes' mum Lisa handpaints a football trophy in indigenous design each season for the winner.
Goodes' brother Brett also made a point of including his connections to Ballarat as a player and Western Bulldogs' engagement officer in his personal story, which was the basis for the Bulldogs' indigenous jumper this month.
The Rebels are incredibly proud of Goodes' journey and his leadership in indigenous rights and standing up for what he believed in, as much as his decorated on-field feats.
It is too easy for society, as a while, to point blame at Goodes for being over-sensitive, or to brush off ongoing neanderthal commentary from the time - and equally the less overtly racist critics.
What we missed was a chance to finally have a conversation about what was really going on, not just in the crowd but in our communities. Hopefully this is a chance for reconciliation and path to move forward in ensuring such behaviour never becomes acceptable, nor reaches such a traumatic climax, ever again.
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