Australian Rules-Awkward absence clouds AFL title-decider

By Ian Ransom MELBOURNE, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Australian Rules football exacts a physical toll on players like few other sports and the game's retiring gladiators are afforded a public farewell at the season-ending AFL Grand Final with a reverence fit for wounded soldiers. On Saturday, the traditional motorcade of retiring players will do a lap of the 100,000-seat Melbourne Cricket Ground but the ritual procession will be conspicuous for the absence of Adam Goodes, one of the game's greatest Aboriginal players. A hulking forward who played 372 games, Goodes retired last month after his Sydney Swans were dumped out of the playoffs, but his final season was blighted by jeering from opposition fans at stadiums across the country. As an activist for Aboriginal rights, Goodes upset conservatives with his vocal campaigning for indigenous Australians, who lag the mainstream in basic human indicators like child mortality and life expectancy. Right-wing shock jocks claimed he had brought the booing upon himself for being too confrontational and branded him a divisive force in Australian race relations. The jeering became so intense Goodes briefly withdrew from the game late in the season in a huge embarrassment for the AFL. Goodes did not flag up his retirement before his final match against the North Melbourne Kangaroos, telling his team mates in private of his decision after the game. Regarded as one of the finest players of the modern era, Goodes won two Brownlow medals as the competition's most valuable player and few could better his claim for a proper send-off. However, the 35-year-old has had no reception and eschewed the league's offer of a place in the motorcade during Saturday's Grand Final, where reigning champions Hawthorn Hawks take on the West Coast Eagles, local media reported. "I really think people would still boo him (at the game)," one prominent former player and pundit told local radio last month. "Because after all this, after he stood down for a week because of the mental anguish associated with the booing, he came back and there was still booing." INDIGENOUS TALENT Racism has largely been eradicated on the field in AFL, where Aboriginals play an outsize role and are celebrated for their contributions to the game with an 'Indigenous Round' of matches each season. Off the field, the battle continues and players continue to speak out about racist abuse ringing out from the terraces. While Goodes will be missing, a number of other indigenous players will play a role in the Grand Final, with Melbourne-based champions Hawthorn boasting some of the game's finest. Three-time championship winner Shaun Burgoyne, nicknamed 'Silk' for his exquisite skills, is a descendant of the Kokatha Mula nation in bone-dry South Australia state. The 32-year-old utility will play his 31st AFL playoff game to become joint-second among players with the most finals appearances. Livewire midfielder and forward Cyril Rioli is part of a potent Hawthorn attack that has carried the team through its bid for a third successive championship. Another triple premiership winner, the pint-sized 26-year-old Rioli hails from the Tiwi Islands off Darwin in the north coast, a wellspring of indigenous talent. The West Coast Eagles are also well represented, with midfield-defender Sharrod Wellingham and Josh Hill prominent mentors for indigenous youth. Both are tipped to play key roles in the Perth side's bid for a fourth AFL championship and first since 2006. (Editing by Peter Rutherford)