37 reasons to say #IStandWithAdam

#1: He’s a human. And no-one deserves to be insulted in their workplace the way he has.

#2: He’s come from small town Victoria and become captain of the biggest club in the biggest city in Australia. Not bad for a shy Indigenous kid from Horsham.

#3: He’s an out and out champion of the only truly Australian game, Australian Rules Football. No-one can deny that.

#4: Kicked 6 goals in the Under 18 Australian Championships for the North Ballarat Rebels in 1997.

#5: Drafted at a relatively lowly number 43 by the Sydney Swans, he spent the whole of 1998 in the reserves adjusting to big city life, away from family and friends at the age of 18.

#6: Debuted in 1999 for the Sydney Swans, and promptly won the Australian Football League Rising Star Award.

#7: Also won the Sydney Swans Rising Star Award in the same year.

#8: Member of the 2005 Sydney Swans premiership team, which broke the longest running premiership drought in Australian sports of seventy-two years.

#9: Co-captain of the 2012 premiership-winning Swans with Jarrad McVeigh.

#10: Two-time Brownlow Medal winner, awarded to the Fairest and Best in the Australian Football League. One of only fourteen multiple winners of the award.

#11: He took his Mum to the Brownlow in 2003. That’s a pretty sweet thing to do.

#12: Has polled 162 votes in the Brownlow, which is the sixteenth most in the history of the game.

#13: Is a three-time Bob Skilton Medal winner- awarded to the best and fairest player at the Sydney Swans.

#14: He’s played in the ruck, up forward, in the midfield, and even down back, almost reshaping the traditional idea of positional play on the ground.

#15: Three-time leading goal kicker at the Swans, with a career high of eight goals in one game against Fremantle in 2008.

#16: Fifth overall in Sydney Swans goal kicking, with 454 goals, only eight behind the great Tony Lockett.

#17: Sydney Swans captain 2009-2012.

#18: Most games ever played by a member of South Melbourne/Sydney.

#19: All-Australian in 2003.

#20: All-Australian in 2006.

#21: All-Australian in 2009.

#22: All-Australian in 2011.

#23: Proudly represented Australia in the International Rules series in 2001, and 2010.

#24: Was also Captain of Australia in 2010.

#25: Won the AFL Coaches Association Player of the year in 2006.

#26: Awarded Best Clubman at Sydney in 2007.

#27: Member of the Indigenous Team of the Century. Selected at centre-half back, once again showing his extraordinary versatility.

#28: Most games played by an Indigenous Australian. Will play his 366^th game against Geelong this weekend, placing him ninth in games played in the 128-year history of the AFL.

#29: With his good friend, cousin, and ex-teammate Michael O’Loughlin, set up the GO Foundation, a foundation aimed at empowering the next generation of Indigenous role models in all walks of life across Australia.

#30: Awarded the University of New South Wales highest honour, an honorary Doctor of Letters, for his “dedication to reconciliation and his distinguished service to the community”.

#31: Proud of being able to re-enact the twentieth anniversary of the iconic moment in 1993 when indigenous St. Kilda star Nicky Winmar lifted his jumper to proudly show the colour of his skin in response to the racist jeering at Victoria Park.

#32: Stood up during that year’s Indigenous Round and shone a light on endemic racism that is still so prevalent in Australia.

#33: Awarded the Australian of the Year award in 2014, for his footballing accomplishments, and for his work with Indigenous children through his GO Foundation.

#34: Proud to be Australian, and in fact celebrates Australia Day. It’s worth pointing out that he never point-blank called Australia Day “Invasion Day”. He did in fact say, “There was a lot of anger, a lot of sorrow, for this day and very much the feeling of Invasion Day. But in the last five years, I’ve really changed my perception of what is Australia Day, of what it is to be Australian and, for me, it’s about celebrating the positives, that we are still here as indigenous people, our culture is one of the longest surviving cultures in the world, over 40,000 years. That is something we need to celebrate and all Australians need to celebrate. There are people out there thinking that today is a great day for Australia – well, it is.” Seems like a pretty reasonable point of view when you think about the fact that Europeans have only been on Australian shores for 235 years.

#35: Has made us all think about our history, creating a healthy discussion as to where our country stands on race issues.

#36: He’s playing again this week, after igniting passionate support from his colleagues. Moments such as Bob Murphy wearing Goodes’ number to the coin toss, Richmond players wearing their Indigenous jumper, and teammate Lewis Jetta’s inspiring dance, will be remembered for years to come.

#37: He’s a human. And no-one deserves to be insulted in their workplace the way he has.

Thank you Adam, for all you have given to this great country of ours.

And welcome back to our great game.