Goodes’ football friends described him as a ‘‘footy guy’’. He loved September whether or not he was featuring in the finals. He loved Brownlow night and attending the big functions where he ranged from popular to revered and loved being a part of the wider AFL community. Not any more. Goodes was named Australian of the year in 2014. It was during that year’s grand final, in which Sydney was trounced by Hawthorn, that the booing at the MCG was audible for the first time.

He was booed again more loudly in May the following year during the return bout against the Hawks at the MCG. The response from the AFL and Hawthorn was underwhelming. Then league football boss Mark Evans commented to Swans bosses at the match function that night that the priority should be to ensure Goodes enjoyed the exit from the game his stellar career deserved. Evans’ response befitted the AFL’s mantra under McLachlan to avoid serious controversy and public conflict at all costs, but failed Adam Goodes. Then Hawthorn president Andrew Newbold refused to accept the booing was racially motivated, saying Hawks supporters did not boo Cyril Rioli.

There had been the adolescent girl at the MCG in 2013, the Eddie McGuire incident and then the largely misreported Australia Day speech, along with a series of semi-regular whacks from the politically powerful Alan Jones, who sat on the SCG Trust where Goodes was an ambassador. But if, as Swans chief Andrew Ireland truly believes, the booing began after Goodes was appointed Australian of the year, the lightning rod was struck with the dance — the week after the Hawthorn game. Friday night at the SCG marked the Swans' Marngrook game as part of the AFL’s Indigenous round. Goodes performed his tribal dance, which was seen by some as provocative and antagonistic, directed at a group of heckling Carlton supporters. Sydney fans supporting Adam Goodes after he was targeted. Credit:James Brickwood The commentary was pointed and the talkback response the following day was ferocious. Ireland, for the first time, said he believed the booing was racially motivated. McLachlan was advised to say nothing. The AFL went to ground as sides were taken and positions angrily declared.

By Sunday, the league chief had no choice but to respond to the growing media and public frenzy. He released a carefully worded statement defending Goodes and the dance and condemning racism but would not be interviewed.

It is debatable whether McLachlan could have changed the tide had he proved stronger, more decisive and acted earlier. Or if Hawthorn had been prepared to take it up to their supporters, perhaps through the Hawks' large and popular group of Indigenous players. Certainly McLachlan was not helped by chairman Fitzpatrick, who failed for too long to see what the fuss was all about. Nor by the commission as a whole whose members were divided over Goodes, with some believing he was booed because he staged for free kicks. There was also a view that criticising football supporters would prove a self-destructive folly. Ireland, who said last year the treatment of Goodes still made him angry, labelled the treatment of Goodes and denials of racism a double ‘‘disgrace’’ during an Open Mike interview in 2016. The Swans hope the forthcoming films about Goodes will inform that time. Certainly the Darling documentary should prove educational for young Australians. Adam Goodes, accepting has award as Australian of the year in 2014. Credit:Rohan Thomson In 2015, though, the stage was set for the perfect storm and it raged out of control one mid-winter night against West Coast at Subiaco. Having witnessed one of the game’s great champions being virtually booed into retirement, the AFL Commission’s response was again belated, careful and woeful. Several AFL clubs were stronger, notably the Eagles through their veteran CEO Trevor Nisbett.

But there is also a view from Goodes’ wider group of supporters that wishes he had not gone to ground and instead stood firm and spoken after that shameful episode in Perth. Peter Meurer, the chairman of the GO Foundation, wanted Goodes to speak publicly but other advisors told him to say nothing. While leading commentators across the nation took their predictable sides and the issue provoked a tempestuous national debate, Goodes, heartbroken, did not respond to a plethora of text messages and good wishes but took leave from the Swans and returned home to the country. Some close to him said he was emotionally spent and could no longer play his national role publicly. Others say he was advised to stay silent and that while he was happy to take that advice, the advice was wrong. Still, Goodes continues to do his best work standing up for Indigenous Australians away from the spotlight. After staying away for a few days and missing one game he returned and played out the season. The Swans' games record-holder departed the game without fanfare after the semi-final loss to North Melbourne — his 372nd match — at Sydney’s Homebush. Goodes did not take part in the farewell motorcade on grand final day. He did not attend the Brownlow and has not since. McLachlan privately apologised to the retired player early in 2016 and also published an apology in the AFL annual report but did not repeat the apology or elaborate on it in subsequent radio interviews.

McLachlan also stated in 2016 that Goodes would prove an ideal candidate for the role of the game’s first Indigenous commissioner. Those close to Goodes at the time said that role was out of the question for him. Goodes has said he accepted McLachlan’s apology. When asked whether he regretted accepting what many later saw as for him a poisoned chalice - Australian of the year — or in fact wishes he politely declined the NSW nomination, Goodes always points out that the honour was personally pivotal because it was how he met his wife, Natalie Croker. He also says he does not regret starting the conversation. Croker was working for the production company that interviewed and filmed Goodes as part of his national role in 2014. They married in 2016, have recently returned from a holiday in Mexico and will travel to Europe during the Australian winter. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video

Goodes may be lost to the wider football community but he is not lost to the Swans, whose offices house the GO Foundation he established with former teammate Michael O’Loughlin and whose stated aim is to empower the next generation of Indigenous role models. The chief executive and a director of the Indigenous Defence Consortium, Goodes remains an ambassador for Qantas, David Jones, Toyota, Lend Lease and Woolworths. On June 1 he will make a rare visit to an AFL game when the Swans host Carlton at the SCG for the 2018 Marngrook game. GO is the Swans' charity partner for the annual Indigenous round game and at its close Goodes will present the Goodes-O’Loughlin Medal. At the start of 2019 Goodes will almost certainly be inducted into the Sydney Hall of Fame. A dual Brownlow medallist, dual premiership player and the AFL’s Indigenous games record-holder, it would seem a formality that he will be an automatic inductee into the Australian Football Hall of Fame when eligible at the end of 2020. Were the honour bestowed on him today it is not certain Goodes would feel comfortable publicly accepting it. What an indictment that is on our game. Goodes’ treatment both inside and outside Australia’s football stadiums told us that Indigenous players are celebrated for their sporting brilliance until they very occasionally choose to remind us of our past. And of our racist tendencies.