Adam Goodes

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Adam Goodes
Adam Goodes playing for Sydney against Melbourne at the MCG during the 2006 AFL Season
Personal information
Full name	Adam Goodes
Date of birth	8 January 1980 (1980-01-08) (age 29)
Place of birth	Wallaroo, South Australia
Recruited from	Horsham, North Ballarat Rebels
Draft	43rd overall, 1997 Sydney
Height/Weight	194cm / 97kg
Position(s)	Ruckman/Centre/Full Forward
Club information
Current club	Sydney
Number	37
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1999-	Sydney	243 (250)
State team honours
2008	Victoria	1 (0)
International team honours
2001	Australia	1 (3)
1 Playing statistics to end of Round 13, 2009 season .

Adam Goodes (born 8 January 1980 in Wallaroo, South Australia^[1]) is an Australian rules football player and dual Brownlow Medal winner who plays for the Sydney Swans.

Goodes holds an elite place in AFL/VFL history as a dual Brownlow Medallist, premiership player and member of the Indigenous Team of the Century.

Goodes is well known for his indigenous Australian heritage, and is prominently involved and associated with several indigenous sport and community programs.

[edit] Early life

He was born in Wallaroo, to Lisa May (a Narungga child with Adnyamathanha ancestry who was one of the stolen generation in South Australia and raised by an English family) and Graham Goodes, with siblings Jake and Brett.^[2] His parents were separated when he was four and his father moved to Queensland while Goodes moved between Wallaroo and Adelaide (in South Australia) and Merbein (in Victoria) with his mother.^[3]

While at Merbein, Adam attended primary school at Merbein West Primary School, and it was there that he began to play Australian Rules football.^[3]

Goodes moved with his family to Horsham, Victoria where he played football at high school and represented Victoria at under 16 and under 18 levels.

He began playing with the North Ballarat Rebels as a 16 year old in the Victorian Football League and played in a winning premiership side where he was scouted by the Sydney Swans.^[3]

[edit] AFL career

Goodes was drafted by the Sydney Swans into the Australian Football League as the No. 43 pick in the 1997 AFL Draft, Sydney's third round draft pick. Goodes spent the 1998 season in the reserves competition, but broke into the first team the following year, and went on to win the league's Rising Star Award.

During 2000 and 2001, Goodes played in a variety of positions, developing his game but lacking consistency at times. He played every game during this period. In early 2002, however, his form had slumped and it had been suggested that he may be dropped. However, coach Rodney Eade resigned mid-season, and under interim (now permanent) coach Paul Roos, Goodes found himself playing more in the ruck. In the second half of that season, his form improved dramatically, resulting in some of the best football of his career. After injuring his knee twice in the ruck, Goodes moved to play on the wing, and went on to win two Brownlow medals.

[edit] 2003 - Brownlow Medal success

In 2003, Goodes returned to the ruck position for significant parts of the year, in what became his best season so far. He played a critical role in the Swans revival and eventual Preliminary Final spot that year. In particular, his efforts were crucial in the Swans' win against Port Adelaide in the qualifying final.

At the end of the season, Goodes won the club's best and fairest award (the Bob Skilton Medal) and All-Australian selection for the first time. However, his greatest achievement was winning the league's highest honour, the Brownlow Medal, along with Collingwood's Nathan Buckley and Adelaide's Mark Ricciuto. This was the first time in the history of the medal that the award was shared between three players. Adam Goodes attributes his great success to his long time mentor John Winter.

[edit] 2004-2005

Goodes suffered an indifferent 2004, just like his team the Swans, who only managed the Semi-Final stage of the Finals series. He didn't repeat his heroic efforts of 2003, mainly due to niggling knee injuries, yet he still managed to play every game. Those knee injuries were due to an awkward fall during the season while playing in the ruck against the West Coast Eagles. Many expected Goodes to have suffered a posterior or anterior knee ligament damage, but he battled on. After this injury, coach Roos announced that Goodes' rucking days were over, and that he would be used in other positions. Goodes played in the backline for the remainder of 2004.

Goodes returned to form in 2005, playing mainly in the midfield. His year was highlighted with a near match-winning 33 disposals in round 18 against the Adelaide Crows. Goodes played well in the 2005 Grand Final, kicked a goal and gathering 20 possessions as the Swans won their first premiership since 1933.^[4] He was also awarded life membership of the Swans after playing his 150th game during the year.^[5]

[edit] 2006 - 2nd Brownlow Medal

In Round 7 2006 Goodes played his 150th consecutive match, an amazing effort for the injuries he endured in his 2004 year. By the end of the 2007 season, he had played 191 consecutive matches. Goodes returned to the Ruckman position in 2005 and 2006, but only occasionally around the ground, and not in the centre bounce where his knee injury occurred.

In 2006 Goodes had another extraordinary year and once again won the Brownlow Medal. He came into the count as a heavy favourite and he is only the twelfth player to have won two or more Brownlow Medals, the first Aboriginal to win two and the first player to win two with a non-Victorian club^[6]. Goodes said of his performance, "I'd like to think with another couple of years in the midfield I could improve again."^[7]. Goodes had a poor performance in the first half of the 2006 Grand Final versus the West Coast Eagles in a repeat match of 2005. However, he turned on the style in the second half with his team coming agonisingly close (losing by one point).

[edit] Controversies

In 2002 Goodes was subject to a racial slur during a match at the SCG, and he still refuses to name the player who made the slur.

In 2007, Goodes was booked on video evidence for striking Melbourne's Simon Godfrey, but his striking charge was downgraded to a charge, and only escaped with a reprimand, thus making him ineligible for the Brownlow Medal that year.

In round two, 2008, Goodes was charged for striking Port Adelaide's Matt Thomas but was found not guilty of the charge; this is put down to the surfacing of the SCG which had hosted a cricket match earlier that month.

In round 11, 2008, Goodes was booked for high contact to the head of West Coast's Adam Selwood but only escaped with a reprimand. Therefore, for the second year running, Goodes was ineligible for the Brownlow Medal.

During the 2008 home and away season, Goodes was one of a select few AFL players subject to violent death threats from an unknown individual. Others players included Adelaide's Andrew McLeod and North Melbourne's Nathan Thompson.^[8]

Goodes was suspended in round 13 of the 2008 season for a head-front bump on Melbourne's Clint Bartram.

[edit] Outside interests

Goodes is of Aboriginal descent, and is active in the Sydney indigenous community. He has spent time working with troubled indigenous youth, including those in youth detention centres, along with his cousin and teammate Michael O'Loughlin. His mother Lisa May is also involved in community work and works in a nursing home. He and his good friend Michael O'Loughlin have just helped to start an indigenous football academy.

Goodes took his mother to the Brownlow Medal count in 2003.

[edit] Sporting family

Goodes' brother Brett is a semi-professional footballer who has played for both the Port Adelaide Magpies in the SANFL and the North Ballarat Roosters in the Victorian Football League and has represented Victoria in interleague matches.^[9]

[edit] Media appearances

In 2006, he appeared along with Shane Crawford in an advertisement for Campbell's chunky soup. He later appeared, along with teammates in the Barry Hall Hall series of commercials for the AFL in Sydney.

In 2009, he featured in the official advertisement for the AFL, receiving the ball from Chris Judd while striding out in front of horses on a horse racing track. In addition, he also appeared in an advertisement for Powerade, as does Brisbane Broncos winger Israel Folau.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Adam Goodes profile on the Official AFL Website of the Sydney Swans Football Club
• Adam Goodes's statistics from AFL Tables