Centre of the storm: Sydney Swans player Adam Goodes in Sydney on Wednesday. Credit:Daniel Munoz The girl later spoke to Goodes over the phone and penned an apology explaining she did not realise the word was racist. Joanne believed the incident is why Goodes has been loudly jeered by opposition fans, a view held by many of his critics, like Alan Jones and News Limited columnists Andrew Bolt and Miranda Devine. Goodes' supporters, however, believe he was right to stand up to his vilifier regardless of her age and cannot believe a champion of the game who has been a fine role model for the Indigenous community is so disliked by a large proportion of the football public. The Swans and the AFL have said this week they believe the booing of Goodes is racially motivated.

While Goodes has been criticised for "humiliating" the girl, he said the day after the match that she should be supported, rather than criticised, by the media, and declined to press charges. The club has also said there was no way he could have known her age at the time. The issue re-emerged as a major talking point after Lewis Jetta performed a war dance in support of Goodes, who was given a hostile reception during Sunday's game against West Coast by a partisan Perth crowd. Joanne acknowledged Goodes was entitled to be upset at being called an "ape" but should have ignored the comment because of her daughter's age. Such an action contradicts the "Racism. It Stops With Me" campaign, of which Goodes is an ambassador, launched by the Australian Human Rights Commission in 2012 which encourages people to stand up to racism. "It's all stemmed from what he did to Julia," Joanne told Fairfax Media. "If he hadn't have done it he wouldn't be having the problems he'd be having now. "He probably should apologise because maybe he should have picked his target a little bit better.

"She'd only turned 13 five days beforehand. She was technically still 12. She had no idea what she was saying." Goodes said after the incident it was not the first time on the football field he had been referred to as a "monkey" or "ape". "It was shattering," he said at the time. Joanne accepted her daughter had contributed to the situation with her remarks but painted her as a victim, saying "she's only a little kid". Joanne is still angered at how her daughter was treated by MCG security and police, blaming it on Goodes' reaction to the racial sledge. "Picking on a 13-year-old child I thought was absolutely ridiculous and having her questioned by police without an adult being present was absolutely disgusting on the part of himself and the AFL," Joanne said.

"I don't think Julia was treated fairly at all. It was the way he carried on on the ground that made them do what they did. If he hadn't have carried on like a pork chop it wouldn't have mattered. "It would have gone on exactly the same as any football game any other week. He just happened to pick on the wrong kid." Joanne said Goodes "shouldn't take things to heart as much as he does" because being "badgered" on the football field was part of being an AFL footballer. "I don't think he should retire, he should man up and just take it if he wants to play the game," Joanne, a Collingwood supporter, said. Joanne said her daughter did not want to re-visit the issue.

"She's been going on quite nicely, she's at school, and she hasn't worried about this event at all," Joanne said. * Fairfax Media has chosen not to publish Joanne's surname