However, Milne said the AFL should widen its hardline approach to include all forms of abuse delivered towards players, revealing he had been significantly affected by the personal attacks constantly directed at him by rival fans. Milne's comments on Sunday came after it emerged that Goodes and teammate Lewis Jetta had been the target of more abuse during Friday night's game, one of the showpieces of this weekend's indigenous round. Footage aired on TV on Sunday showed a man wearing Collingwood apparel screaming the following abuse: ''Give it to Goodes because he is black. Give it to Jetta because he is black. It's indigenous round, umpire.'' Former Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd, himself a whipping boy for opposition supporters during his career, praised Milne for speaking out about the abuse that he said had clearly hurt the St Kilda goalsneak. While Lloyd said it was impossible to stop the general spectator-to-player sledging, a system should be introduced to eliminate ''over-the-top'' personal attacks.

There are protocols in place at AFL grounds that allow spectators to ''dob in'' another fan suspected of racial behaviour. Milne said he could accept general sledging and banter with the crowd ''as much as anyone'', but some abuse was deeply hurtful. ''It's a bit of a touchy subject,'' Milne said on Channel Nine. ''Nothing really changes with me. What happened on Friday night [with Goodes] was very sad for the game - it's all about the racism at the moment. ''But I cop a few words which aren't good for anyone. I've got a couple of kids and they go to the footy and my family and parents have to cop the abuse. So the sooner we can stamp it out the better.'' In 2011, Collingwood president Eddie McGuire called for supporters who made ''dehumanising'' comments to be ejected from games, after Magpies fans directed a ''rapist'' chant towards Milne, who was questioned by police over rape allegations in 2004 but was never charged. Vision of a Collingwood supporter hurling prolonged and animated abuse towards Milne in round six this year was shown widely throughout the media, and Milne said on Sunday that the incident had been passed over as a ''joke'' rather than a case of serious abuse.

''There is things you can say, and things you can't,'' Milne said. ''We've got to try to stamp it out because you can't be yelling out those kinds of things when there's kids around in cheer squads and stuff like that. It's just not good for the game.'' Speaking to Fairfax Media, Lloyd said players should be able to cop any sledging from spectators that centres on their on-field performance, but some of the abuse Milne received would ''inflict a higher level of hurt''. ''Milney gives as good as he gets, but I think we overlook what he cops over the fence,'' Lloyd said. ''I'm not going to go into some of the things that's probably said to him, but we all know his history and everyone would know what I'm talking about.'' Loading A Collingwood spokesman said on Sunday that if the spectator hurling abuse at Goodes and Jetta was a Collingwood member - and the club is able to identify him - he would have his membership cancelled in line with the club's zero-tolerance policy on racism.