It does seem that way but Lindsay Thomas from North Melbourne is regularly booed in a similar manner, the same round that Goodes did his little war dance Thomas was booed at every single opportunity by Collingwood fans. Lindsay is an aboriginal player too, like Goodes he has a reputation for being dirty and he certainly doesn't conform to the image of the ideal Aboriginal player, he's one of the most hated and heavily criticized players in the comp but because he's also a notorious c*nt and has no media profile no one makes a big deal of it.

Edited by fredsta: 28/7/2015 07:11:10 PM

I'll take your word on it, I can only really comment on the responses to this issue rather than the context. I do think this is more of a poor reflect on an aspect of Australian society than the afl, our indigenous relations still leave a lot to be desired.

Goodes has been playing the exact same way for over 300 games yet was never booed. Suddenly he calls out a racist fan, and class Australia Day Invasion Day, and he's booed every time he touches the ball. But the booing is because of how he plays...which he has been doing the same way for over 10 years. It's as thinly veiled as racism gets.

He was booed before that incident but I agree in saying it was nowhere near as prevalent as it currently is. That being said though the Collingwood incident was in 2013 and if anything the reaction to that at the time was very positive, support for Goodes was at an all time high. The booing was not a direct result of that incident and has only become such a huge issue this season, two years on from when all this racial tension with Goodes first became such a public issue.

To blame it all on him being a dirty player is a huge cop out, but to blame it on racism is just as big a cop out IMO.

Dermott Brereton. =d>

If you look at social media though the top comments are generally saying it's not racist, he's just a massive flog for the way he treated a young girl. I agree not everyone booing him at the start was racist, but surely now it's been clearly explained by the AFL, as well as rival coaches and players, why its unacceptable behaviour, anyone who incessantly boos him at Geelong next weekend has to be willing to cop the tag of racist.

At the very least fans should be able to see their destroying the life of a another human and back off for the sake of his mental state.

That's fair but I honestly think these comments from those within the game reinforcing the need to stop are only fueling the problem. There are plenty of fans who are on the fence or don't have an opinion on Goodes and the more they are told it is unacceptable to have a negative opinion of him or to verbally abuse him I think the more likely they are to resent the man tbh.

Goodes has been a champion player and even though he's been one of my most disliked players I still don't think he's done enough to deserve the magnitude and consistency of booing that will follow him into retirement.

Not having a go at your argument 99, but what if people boo him now because they think it gets to him and throws him off his game (mind you this all goes into the media blowing it up and probably doesn't affect him as much they say)
I don't understand some of the older generation saying its not in the spirit of the game to boo a player, but to me it comes off as people just wanting other people to go to games, pay their money and clap both sides like a junior game

It's a fair point, and plenty of fans have said they'll do it for that reason. But I personally wouldn't feel too good looking myself in the mirror when I got home if what I'd done was at this stage what amounts to racial vilification to get under a players skin. It's just footy at the end of the day.

I kind of agree, especially the last part. If it was a minority booing him for part of the game, it would really just be business as usual. But at the moment it's the majority, and it needs to be addressed because it's destroying one of the games champions.

This is ridiculous:lol:
Players get booed all the time, just because he is aboriginal doesn't mean it's racist.

If Goodes can throw imaginary spears at white people why aren't people calling him racist? :lol:

It is kind of funny comparing what goodes is copping to what the a-leaguers cop :lol: see seb, Archie and besart

When I told my country bumpkin straya footy mate about what ryall cops, he nearly had a stroke :lol:

Goodes being such a sook :lol:

If the AFL crowd is supposedly racist, why don't they boo every single aboriginal player and not only Goodes?

There's a number of connected reasons why Goodes is getting booed and why it's got worse over the past year.

(1) Dirty player: what he was originally occasionally booed for over most of his career. The sliding in late with his knees into contests, 'late' spoils to an opponent's head, and the over-playing for frees. I would have most AFL fans in this category.

(2) Racism: a small and small-minded minority but a high profile reason after the Collingwood girl incident in 2013. Goodes thinks this is the only reason why he gets booed and sees it as his duty to stand up for other indigenous players against it.

(3) Politics: rumours a year or two ago that Goodes was thinking about going into politics after his footy career. His views are more left of centre so the Conservative commentators like Andrew Bolt (Herald-Sun) and Miranda Devine (Daily Telegraph) have him in the gun.

(4) Australian of the Year acceptance speech: got all the Anglophiles upset and offside with his comments about Australia Day. Know a couple of Anglo-Aussies who can't stand Goodes because of it and actually call him a "divisive prima donna" and claim he's the racist. Bolt and Devine continually use that AOTY speech to attack Goodes and love crying about all those poor white people now getting picked on by Lefties lol.

(5) Juvenile attitude of some fans: Tell opposition fans not to boo you and like sheep they will boo you more just because they've been told not to and they know it gets to you.

Goodes and others (Swans, media, AFL) rightly or wrongly claiming the booing is purely a racial issue has annoyed opposition fans who boo due to reason (1) and don't like being accused of being racist when they are not booing Goodes because he's indigenous. So combine that with the anger of those about his AOTY speech and that explains why the booing has got worse and is more persistent this year.

Edited by Jeff W: 28/7/2015 11:39:27 PM

Such flawed logic. It's like saying Why do the crowds boo 0 of the 100's of white players in the game.

The saddest part in this is Nicky Winmar and Michael Ling took similar stands over 20 years ago so no player would ever have to go through this again. And people thinking Goodes is the only player affected by this are kidding. Lewis Jetta obviously feels pretty strongly about it.

Imagine Ryall then :lol:

If your first point was such a major contributing factor, players like Stevie J and Sam Mitchell would cop it even worse. Sure, there are people who do fit in that category, but rightly or wrongly, it's now at the point where every time they boo, they're supporting the ones doing it for the other reasons you listed.

Its funny that he takes himself our of the game voluntarily. That will fix nothing.

He's mentally spent. I really do hope he plays on the weekend. It should be ok since we're at home. It'll be a terrible look for the AFL if a player doesn't feel up to taking the field over this.

You can almost guarantee indigenous players from other clubs will show support for him this weekend.

Yep, bloke has been playing for years and people have only decided to start booing him now. If it was really to do with his onfield manner then they'd have been booing years ago, I don't believe for a second that "racism has nothing to do with it"

I wouldn't want to go to work if I was getting racially abused each week by thousands of bogans and torn to shreds on social media for the crime of saying it's not good enough.

Jobe Watson has copped just as much full-on persistent booing in recent years. That must be racism too #-o .

When Goodes was younger he was a fair player. He could destroy opponents with his superior skill and athleticism. That's why he won two Brownlows. As he's got older and slower, he's resorted to cheap shots and over-playing for frees. Not what fans expect from a Brownlow medalist and AOTY. He's become the anti-hero to many opposition fans who once were in awe of him and his pure football ability.

The best players, especially those who also like to dish it out, did/do get booed by opposition fans. It's envy that that star player doesn't play for their team. Carey, Brereton, etc would always cop it. But they usually silenced the boo-ers with great marks and goals in a winning effort. They didn't publicly attack a whole sport's fan base accusing them of being racists for booing them. Fair enough complaining to authorities and outing actual racial comments thrown over the fence by bigoted losers. But Goodes has made a rod for himself now by claiming ALL booing of him is racist. That's just ridiculous. He's offended the majority in trying to out the minority of racists. The problem now is the more he and the Swans complain about the booing, the more opposition fans will now boo him just out of spite and because they know the mass booing works to get inside his head. The booing is childish and more en masse bullying; not racist.

Edited by Jeff W: 29/7/2015 03:19:07 AM

X amount of people just don't become racist overnight :lol:

Are there other white players being booed as much as him?

Is it not going all game as well?

This is deeply embarrassing for our nation. Thank goodness this is happening in the AFL and not the A-league. But wait until the international media get a hold of this. They will have a field day. It's terrible.

Whatever the point of this all has been lost. Now people are booing for the sake of booing and have no idea why they are booing. Now he might retire and alot of people have been saying he is a little bitch because of it all. Have people thought that this is affecting him more than people think and its time for some decorum.

Thats not my point. My point is now its just booing for the sake of it and it wont get better.

Nicky <3

That was against Collingwood too :-" :lol:

Jobe Watson is the leader of a team most opposition fans consider to be drug cheats who have never been punished. Still he doesn't deserve it, but still apart from that night in Perth he isn't copping it like Goodes.

Once again, he played over 350 games in the exact same manner without the majority finding a need to boo him. But once he stands for his culture every time he touches the ball he's booed. Must just be a coincidence :roll:

Damien Hardwick said last night he takes it as everytime Goodes is booed as an attack on his indigenous players as well. Most commentators are calling it one of the darkest moments in footy history. I can't understand how people are still defending it.