Kicking Goals with Goodesy and Magic

AFL legends Adam Goodes and Michael O’Loughlin are blood brothers and great mates. They are also two of the best footballers ever to play for the Sydney Swans. Between them, they played over 650 games and kicked over 900 goals.

But what were Goodesy and Magic like when they were kids? What kind of scrapes did they get into at school? And what was it like to go from being normal teenagers to AFL superstars?

Find out all this and much more in Kicking Goals, the story of Adam and Michael’s friendship in their own words, as told to Anita Heiss.

An Andyamathanha and Norungga man born in Wallaroo, Adam Goodes made his senior AFL debut in 1999, and won the AFL Rising Star Award that year. Adam has achieved everything to which an AFL footballer can aspire. He is the games record holder with the Sydney Swans, has twice tasted Grand Final victory, has twice been the recipient of Australian Football’s highest individual honour, the Brownlow Medal, has been named his club’s Best and Fairest player three times, has earned All-Australian honours four times, has captained Australia against Ireland in International Rules football and is a member of the AFL’s Indigenous Team of the Century. In recognition of his community involvement and his firm yet compassionate campaign against racism, Adam was named Australian of the Year in 2014.

Michael O’Loughlin was drafted to the Sydney Swans in 1994 and played the first of his 303 senior AFL games for the club the following year. He played in three AFL grand finals, was the club’s best and fairest player in 1998, and was twice All-Australian and twice represented Australia in International Rules. A member of the AFL’s Indigenous Team of the Century, Michael was a key player in the Sydney Swans’ 2005 Premiership team. When he retired from football in 2009, he did so as one of the most beloved and decorated players in the history of the South Melbourne / Sydney Swans football club. Since hanging up the boots, Michael has been Head Coach of the AIS-AFL Academy, coached the Indigenous All-Stars team which toured Ireland in 2013, and has now come “home” to the Swans – as Head Coach of the QBE Sydney Swans Academy.

Dr Anita Heiss is the author of non-fiction, historical fiction, commercial women's fiction, poetry, social commentary and travel articles. She is a Lifetime Ambassador of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation and a proud member of the Wiradjuri nation of central NSW. Anita was a finalist in the 2012 Human Rights Awards and the 2013 Australian of the Year Awards. She lives in Sydney.