The embattled Sydney Swans player Adam Goodes is receiving cross-code support from both AFL and NRL players and teams announcing the inclusion of indigenous dances and the wearing of Dreamtime jerseys during upcoming games.
Goodes has been at the centre of an ongoing booing controversy which has seen him take extended leave and left him considering retirement from the AFL.
Adam Goodes Photo: Photosport
This Friday Richmond will don their 2015 Dreamtime guernseys against Hawthorn at the MGC with Tigers coach Damien Hardwick saying the wider football community has become tired of the abuse aimed at Goodes.
Hardwick also encouraged fans to wear their Dreamtime guernseys, traditionally worn during the Indigenous round which took place in May this year, as a show of support.
Top NRL indigenous players including North Queensland co-captain Jonathan Thurston are planning to perform indigenous dances at upcoming games as a show of support.
"I'll show my respect for Adam, indigenous athletes and all the indigenous people with a little move on the weekend if I'm lucky enough to score," he told News Ltd.
Thurston says NRL crowds are far more progressive than AFL crowds when it comes to indigenous race relations.
Johnathan Thurston Photo: Photosport
The idea has already gained considerable support including from the game's top Aboriginal official, ARL Indigenous Council chair Linda Burney, who told News Ltd on Wednesday the booing was racist.
"You have a proud indigenous man who puts his head up... and this happens. That's why I hope players will shake a leg to support Goodsey this weekend. And not just indigenous players either."
However Brisbane Lions great Jason Akermanis has told Goodes to stop "playing the victim" and said those who label the booing of the dual Brownlow medallist as racist are kidding themselves.
"I got booed and no one ever said it was racist. (Former league star) Benny Elias got booed when we were in Queensland because he was from NSW. Umpires get booed every week.
"Adam Goodes has got to stop looking like a sook and stop making it about him in this sense, and also he should stop trying to play the victim," he said.
Akermanis said it would be a shame if Goodes decided to retire over the controversy, and said the 35-year-old needed to make a decision about "whether he's for the club or for himself".
