Adam not only one with the goods
Adam Goodes played his 341st game on Sunday against West Coast.
Not only did he set a new AFL record for indigenous players he served notice he remains a key ingredient in the premiership race.
With his touch, stamina and confidence quickly returning Goodes' three goals in gruelling conditions powered the Swans to the top of the table and all but ended the Eagles hopes for September.
With no disrespect to the Sydney champ I felt obliged to mention two indigenous legends in the Australian Football Hall of Fame, Graham Farmer and Barry Cable on Sunday.
The two West Australian's never played a game in the AFL but their records deserved a mention on the day Goodes was feted for his modern day milestone.
Farmer played a total of 356 games for East Perth, Geelong and West Perth while Cable wracked up 382 games for Perth, North Melbourne and East Perth.
And although both are revered in Victoria I think you could argue these guys were even better players in WA.
Farmer seriously injured his knee early in his first season (1962) with the Cats and managed only 6 games. With his amazing jump curtailed but his breathtaking handball still intact Polly simply reinvented himself.
No stats are available for the 1963 Grand Final when Geelong defeated Hawthorn and Polly was best on ground.
I can only assume his were better than the 29 possessions he had four years later when Richmond beat the Cats by 9 points and Polly was again his sides best.
As for Cabes, well he played all but one season in the VFL after age 30.
That one season (1970) was exactly that, a one off.
North Melbourne promised him they'd have a good season, unfortunately they didn't, he did.
But after finishing 4th in the Brownlow he promptly came home to Perth.
It's history he returned to North in 1974 and that the club immediately played in four consecutive grand finals, winning in 1975 and 1977.
Cable averaged 23 possessions (with a low of 21) through that run of grand finals.
To not include their WAFL games in any games total is perhaps to dismiss the very best of two of the finest four players I've ever seen.
The irony is South Australian great Barrie Robran is in the Australian Football Hall Fame after his remarkable career with North Adelaide.
Robran never played in Victoria.
So while Goodes is both rightly celebrated (with the AFL record) and totally blameless in any debate like this are we to assume Robran is game-less?
