NORTH Melbourne midfield general Jack Ziebell hopes Kangaroos fans will show their class by not booing Sydney champion Adam Goodes on Saturday night.

“I’d hope the North Melbourne fans respect Adam Goodes, he’s a champion of our game and I’d like to think that our supporters have a bit more class than booing one of the champions of the game,” Ziebell said.

Hawthorn supporters booed Goodes at the MCG in Round 8, the controversy hitting fever pitch the following Friday night in Sydney when the dual Brownlow medallist put his stamp on the AFL’s Indigenous Round by celebrating a goal with a “war-cry” directed at a bay of Carlton fans.

Ziebell said the booing, which also continued at the Gold Coast last week, was distasteful and uncalled for.

media_camera Adam Goodes during Sydney Swans training at the SCG. pic. Phil Hillyard

“He’s a champion of our game and he’s being booed for no apparent reason so I don’t like to see that in our game,” Ziebell said.

“I think he should be well respected throughout the community, which I think he is, so therefore I don’t see why people should boo him.

“Hopefully the North fans appreciate that he’s a good player, and go about supporting our footy club the way they should support our footy club, being nice and boisterous when we kick goals ... no booing hopefully.”

Sydney co-captain Kieren Jack said the booing had galvanised the club’s strong Bloods’ culture.

“That’s one of our strengths that we want at this football club, we want to be tight, we want to be a tight playing group,” Jack told The Daily Telegraph.

“We care about each other. We love Goodesy, there’s no doubt about that and he was probably going through some tough times there but we’re all here to support him and help him and he certainly knows that and we’ll continue to do that for the rest of his career.”