'More than a star': How Adam Goodes inspired a future teammate
A young Tony Armstrong was excited to meet his hero, Adam Goodes, at the AFL’s Indigenous All-Stars camp and what followed inspired the then 20-year-old to tell his story.
Tony Armstrong for PlayersVoice
They say you shouldn’t meet your heroes. Those people mustn’t have looked up to Adam Goodes.
I vividly remember the first time I had the chance to shake the hand of one of the most important people in my life. It was on the AFL’s Indigenous All-Stars Camp.
I was a 20-year-old Adelaide Crows player trying to find my way in the game and the world. He was a two-time Brownlow Medal winner, premiership Swan, and leader in the community.
To be honest, Goodesy was more than that. He was a proud and passionate Indigenous man blazing a trail for kids like me.
The feeling in that room was overwhelming for me. I was in the midst of all the guys I had looked up to and continued to look up to. Chris Johnson was telling a story, Michael O’Loughlin was beaming, and then out of nowhere a presence glided into the space.
The handshakes were warmer and the smiles wider. Adam Goodes was here.
I waited in line, almost like I was getting an audience with the Queen, and then finally my moment came. I spat my name out, I think, and he then spent the next 10 minutes making me feel special, important and welcome.
I have been thinking about that moment often since I started thinking about writing this piece and reflecting on The Final Quarter, the documentary around the struggles of a man who was a hero and is now a mate.
I was there the night this ugly saga began. A lot of footy fans who followed my eight-year AFL career won’t be surprised that, as usual, I was an emergency for the Swans and watching the game from the MCG stands.
Goodesy was called an ‘ape’ by a member of the crowd. A 13-year-old girl in the crowd. Goodesy didn’t know her age, her background, her life’s challenges … he just knew what he heard wasn’t acceptable and pointed it out.
The fallout was disgusting, heartbreaking, eye-opening and took an incredible toll on Goodesy.
What was his problem? Why did he have to worry about what had happened? Get over it …
