Groundswell of fans call on AFL to right Adam Goodes wrong

A petition calling on the AFL to honour Adam Goodes at this year's AFL grand final has received the backing of thousands of supporters.

The Sydney Swans legend retired in 2015 but was not part of the traditional parade of players to be farewelled at that year's grand final.

Goodes' absence from the grand final parade came amid a torrent of racial abuse and animosity the Sydney player received at the end of his career.

The disgraceful treatment of Goodes has been revisited in a controversial documentary that aired on Channel 10 earlier in the week.

The Final Quarter, a documentary about the last three years of Indigenous leader Goodes' football career, was screened by networks Ten and Win on Thursday night to great acclaim.

Viewers could not help but be moved by archival footage of the dual Brownlow medallist and dual AFL premiership winner being subjected to racially motivated abuse from crowds between 2013 and 2015 after he publicly called out racism.

Journalist Chip Le Grand said it exposed the ‘disturbing’ reality of racism in Australia.

In one clip from the documentary, directed by award-winning film-maker Ian Darling, Goodes is addressing the media the day after being called an “ape” by a 13-year-old girl in the stands. He calls for compassion for her because “it’s not her fault”.

The documentary has sparked a heated national debate about racism and the hatred many professional Indigenous athletes still face in Australia.

It has also sparked calls for the AFL to address the sad reality of Goodes' absence from the 2015 grand final parade, with thousands of people signing a petition calling on the AFL to invite the Swans legend to partake in this year's parade.

At the time of writing more than 13,000 had signed the change.org petition, closing in on the 15,000 target rapidly.

Documentary exposes ugly nature of racism

Broadcast to a national TV audience for the first time on Thursday night, ‘The Final Quarter’ shone a light on the awful treatment that forced the Sydney Swans legend into retirement in 2015.

The two-time Brownlow medallist and two-time premiership player was booed relentlessly at games around Australia before he hung up the boots.

The awful treatment was sparked by Goodes calling out a 13-year-old Collingwood supporter for calling him an ‘ape’ in 2013, and was re-ignited two years later when he performed an Aboriginal war dance in the direction of Carlton supporters during Indigenous round in 2015.

But despite the racial overtones, many have maintained that the saga had nothing to do with Goodes’ race, but rather for the way he handled himself.

AFL personality Sam Newman infamously claimed Goodes wasn’t being booed because he was Aboriginal, but rather because he was acting ‘like a jerk’.

The 73-year-old said he “would love to have been (a) part of (the) conversation, but wasn’t allowed” – referencing a telephone exchange he had with the director after the film premiered last month.

Newman's role in the documentary has come under fire, with many viewers on social media condemning the way he seemed to fuel the hatred towards Goodes.

Broadcaster Eddie McGuire, who features negatively in the film, has urged people to watch it. In 2013, the Collingwood football club president was condemned for suggesting on air that Goodes be used to promote the King Kong musical.

Related: The Final Quarter review – exhilarating Adam Goodes documentary pulses with urgency

“Get Adam Goodes down for it, do you reckon?” he said at the time. “You can see them doing that can’t you? Goodsey. You know with the ape thing, the whole thing, I’m just saying pumping him up and mucking around, all that sort of stuff.”

McGuire later apologised unreservedly, but would not step down as president, saying “people don’t resign for a slip of the tongue”.

On Friday, he described his portrayal in the film as confronting.

“It’s very confronting and it’s heartbreaking to be involved in it in a negative way,” he said on Triple M.

“I encourage people to watch this documentary.

“What you have to do in these situations is you have to front up to things. It’s an eye opener. And if that’s the bottom line, it’s been a worthwhile exercise.”

With agencies