Adam Goodes

Yeah you just have to be true to yourself, know where you come from, make sure that your relationships with family members back in country, back home, are really strong so that connection is always there.

I ask every Australian to think about what the constitutional exclusion says to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, to see our vast and inspiring history in this land not mentioned in the official picture like that.

By the end of my career I just really hated being out there on that field and being subjected to what was happening to me.

I think any time people are recognised for standing up for what they believe in and the way that they do it is a step forward, because if we don't stand up for what we believe in and we let people get away with not educating them for things that they have said they're going to think that behaviour is acceptable.

If people have got a problem with me, say it to me. If you're going to hurt my feelings, I'm going to point you out.

The support of my mother has made such a difference in my life, sacrificing everything to make sure that we went to school, did our homework, got an education. That was one person supporting me, and it takes more than one person in our community to help raise our children.

So for me, you can't control the media, you have to work with media to get your message out there and you just hope that there's enough good honest reporting and people in the media that can get that job done.

I was very lucky to have fantastic leaders before me in Paul Kelly, Leo Barry, Brett Kirk, Craig Bolton, Mick O'Loughlin and Stuart Maxfield, and all of those players led in completely different ways.

I grew up playing soccer and it's definitely my first love.

There's nothing, today, that excites me, or that makes me think I would like to be back in AFL circles. I have no interest. No interest whatsoever. My love for the game died inside of me in those final years of me playing.

I don't think there's too many Aboriginal people out there who are successful that don't want to help make gains for our people.

I play over-35s soccer on the weekend to get my fix of running into people and crashing and bashing, and I still have that desire to win in the sport that I play. I don't think that'll ever lose me.

What I've seen, and the reactions from 'The Final Quarter' and 'The Australian Dream', is that a lot more people are more willing to share their stories around racism.

Injuries weren't the reason why I retired. I retired on my own terms.

Football, for me, was a place where I got accepted for being a good footballer.

It's fun, and a laugh for you... you can boo me and feel happy about yourself because you're part of the crowd that did that. But deep down there were people in that crowd booing me because of my Aboriginality.

I just figured that, for me to get the best out of myself and do the right thing by myself, I really just needed to step away and find out what I really wanted to do and hopefully getting back to where my people are from and getting out bush could really re-energise me and help heal those wounds.

Because women are more than the people who raise our children, they are fantastic leaders in their own rights in our community, and we want to give them the same safe environment, as we would expect.

If I'm only defined by my sport, I really have failed. Yes, I've opened myself up for more criticism, but I'm a professional athlete. I get criticised every week. I'm used to it. It doesn't mean it doesn't hurt, but you get used to it.

I'm not afraid of confrontation. It doesn't have to be an argument. We all have a voice. And they are all worth listening to.

The football field was a place where I could express myself and just be me. Play the game as well as you can and that's what you're judged on. Not the colour of your skin, or your beliefs, or the conversation you have around racism.

Growing up, I knew I was different. But I didn't know what it meant to be Aboriginal. I just knew that I had a really big, extended family. I was taught nothing about who we were or where we came from.

When I retired I was done and it was instant relief. Instant.

For me it's about supporting our Indigenous kids and completing that whole journey: early childhood, primary school, high school, university and then career. I want to be a part of that process all the way, wearing lots of different hats.

You know obviously my stand on racism is that it's unacceptable and that we should always stand up to it.