Introduction and Early Life

 Adam Goodes is a professional Australian Rules football player that currently plays for the Sydney Swans Football Club in the Australia Football League (AFL). He was born on January 8, 1980 in Wallaroo, South Australia. He is about 1.93 metres tall and currently weighs about 99kg. He plays in the midfield and forward positions and wears jersey number 37. Goodes is an indigenous Australian with a rich heritage and involvement in many native sports and community endeavours. He attended primary school at Merbein West Primary School in 1986 at Victoria, where he first started playing Australia Rules Football. He attended high school at Horsham, Victoria where he represented Victoria at under sixteen (U-16) and under eighteen (U-18) levels. He first featured in Victoria Football League (VFL) when he was 16 years with North Ballarat Rebels Football Club, and also featured in a premiership winning team. This is where he was identified by scouts and further recruited by Sydney Swans.

 Early Football Career

 He was drafted into the AFL during the 1997 national AFL draft during the third round of that season. He was pick number forty three (43) and spent his first season at the club in the reserves but eventually got into the clubs first team the following year and worked hard to win the Rising Star Award in 1999. The following two seasons of 2000 and 2001 where quite challenging for him as he was trying to develop his game. At a point in the early part of the 2002 season, there were indications that he might be dropped if his performances did not improve. But he later found himself playing well in the ruck position. His performance later improved tremendously during the second half of that season such that it was said that he exhibited some of the finest skills and top performances of his career during those games. He ended this season winning two Brownlow medals.

 Professional Football (AFL) Career/Achievements

 Adam continued to improve on his performances and the 2003 season became his best season since he began playing in the AFL. He played very critical roles that saw the team reaching the preliminary final spot that year. He clinched the Best and Fairest Award of the club for that year, i.e. the Bob Skilton Award and an All Australian team selection for the first time in his football career. He also got one of the highest honours in his AFL playing career this year winning the leagues Brownlow Medal alongside two other players. It was the second time in the history of the AFL that the medal will be shared between three players.

 The 2004 season was not as eventful as the other seasons. The club did not have or record very significant achievements. Sydney Swans were only able to get to the semi-final stage of the Finals series before they were eliminated. Goodes suffered recurrent knee injuries, however he still managed to play all the games of the season. In the later part of the season Adam changed from a forward role to play in the back lines by his coach. The next season of 2005 was a good one for Goodes, he helped his club to win their first premiership title since 1933, and was also awarded a life membership of the Swans when he played his 150th game during this season.

 As a result of his outstanding performances, he was selected for the All Australian Team and he also won his second Brownlow medal in the 2006 season. He has been playing exceptionally well to date and he is still a major contender for most of the awards and honours.