Indigenous AFL star warns that Adam Goodes racism saga will be repeated

One Aboriginal player says there will be more racist episodes in football.

Brownlow medallist Adam Goodes repeatedly faced derogatory slurs during his final playing day.s Source: Getty Images

Adelaide Crows forward Eddie Betts has revealed he felt “guilty” after watching a new documentary about the dramatic final years of Adam Goodes’ AFL career.

The Final Quarter, which premieres at the Sydney Film Festival on June 7, has been previewed by AFL’s 18 clubs and many Indigenous players.

The documentary focuses on the incessant booing directed at the Sydney Swans star which sparked a national debate over racism.

The film, directed by Ian Darling, is expected to be released on free-to-air TV later this year.

“I’ve seen it twice,” Betts told Adelaide radio station FIVEaa on Wednesday morning.

“A week ago we had the whole team, admin staff, in at the club and watched the Adam Goodes [film]… which was fantastic. The boys really spoke openly afterwards. It’s hard to watch personally for myself just to see Adam go through what he went through.

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“I urge everyone to watch it. I feel guilty as well, not showing the support around Adam. Most of the stuff that was happening, especially in the media, was happening in Sydney. I haven’t seen all that part of it. The stuff that was happening on the weekend, booing Adam week in and week out, that was pretty bad.

“It is full on and that’s why I felt so guilty.

“When it’s all compacted into a 70-minute film you just figure out how bad it was. It was shocking to watch. I actually got emotional the first time I watched it and I got up and spoke to the boys.

“It’s going to happen again. We don’t when, we don’t know how but the support we have to show each other as brothers, as Indigenous people in the AFL, we have to support each other because we can’t let someone like this go through what he went through by himself again.”

“I’ve been through it. I’ve been racially abused and it takes a toll. For someone like Adam who’s the most powerful, the strongest Indigenous person that I know, for that to take a toll on him - you try to stay strong but for this to happen week in, week out, you can just see on his face if you watch the documentary how much of a toll that it was taking on him each week.”