Adam Goodes attacked by fans in 'disgraceful' new development

A new interview with Adam Goodes in which he revealed he never wants to return to the AFL in any capacity has sparked an ugly backlash from fans.

Goodes sat down with Sydney Morning Herald journalist Sam Lane recently, opening up about how he “died inside” after being hounded out of the game by booing fans in 2015.

‘There’s nothing, today, that excites me, or that makes me think I would like to be back in AFL circles,” he told Lane.

“I have no interest. No interest whatsoever. My love for the game died inside of me in those final years of me playing.”

The article was published online on Friday before it appears in full in the Herald on Saturday.

While many expressed their remorse and sadness for Goodes, many others continued to attack him.

Fellow Herald journalist Vince Rugari said some of the comments showed Goodes would still be booed if playing today.

“The reaction to Adam Goodes' comments...show why he could never feel comfortable back in the game. He would absolutely still get booed. And it's very, very sad,” Rugari tweeted.

Others agreed, with one labelling the new furore ‘disgraceful’ and ‘cruel’.

A number of social media users slammed Goodes’ new interview, saying he was continuing to play the victim.

Goodes hated stepping onto football field

In a new documentary ‘The Australian Dream’, Goodes reveals how racist taunts and booing made him hate stepping on to the football field at the back end of his career.

"It (the football field) actually became a place I hated to walk out on to," Goodes says in the documentary.

Despite the confronting subject matter, however, the film was ultimately a story of hope, the film's writer Stan Grant said at the premiere.

"It's a very confronting, it's a very challenging thing. Ultimately, for me, it can be a story of redemption and it can be a story of hope," Grant said.

Aboriginal voices and experiences had to be listened to, he said.

"No one wants to be the angry Aborigine.... Australia needs to get past the idea that because you speak up and you speak against the idea of what other people may think Australia is, it doesn't mean that you don't also love your country and want the best for your country."

Former Swans player and Goodes' best friend Michael O'Loughlin said parts of the film tipped him "over the edge".

Listening to what Goodes' mum had gone through was particularly hard, he said.

"Then she had to watch her boy play a game of football, imagine walking into an arena with 50,000 people booing your son or daughter, it's a really hard thing to take," he said.

Some commentators said opposition supporters booed Goodes because he was staging for free kicks in his latter years.

In 2013, Goodes provoked a national conversation about racism when he demanded a 13-year-old Collingwood supporter who had called him an "ape" be removed from the ground.

He described the girl as the face of racism in Australia.

with AAP