Anita Heiss - Kicking Goals with Goodesy and Magic

Anita Heiss

Anita Heiss has written a LOT of books for kids and adults. She writes about history, sport, naughty dogs, women who like shopping and politics, and sometimes she writes travel stories. Anita thinks reading is very important, which is why she is an ambassador for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. Shes won four Deadly Awards for her writing and just being deadly. In 2012 Anita was a finalist in the Human Rights Award, and in 2013 she was a finalist in the Australian of the Year Awards. Anita lives in Brisbane, and she loves running and chocolate.

Adam Goodes

Adam Goodes played his first game for the Sydney Swans in 1999, when he was nineteen, and he won the AFL Rising Star Award that year. He went on to play 372 games for the Swans, taking the mantle of games record holder from his mate Micky O! He won two Brownlow Medals, was named his clubs best-and-fairest player three times, was four times All-Australian, captained the Australian International Rules team, and was a member of the AFLs Indigenous Team of the Century. In 2009 Adam co-founded the GO Foundation alongside Michael.

In recognition of his community work and his commitment to campaign against racism, Adam was named Australian of the Year in 2014.

Michael OLoughlin

Michael OLoughlin played his first game for the Sydney Swans in 1995 at the age of eighteen. In total he played 303 senior games for the club, including three AFL Grand Finals. He was named the clubs best-and-fairest player in 1998, was twice All-Australian, twice represented Australia in International Rules, and was a member of the AFLs Indigenous Team of the Century. Since hanging up his boots he has continued to be involved with football, most recently as the head coach of the QBE Swans Academy. In 2009 he co-founded the GO Foundation, alongside Adam.

Michael and Adam are family, but they are also great mates. What do they think is the difference between family and friends, and what else do you need besides a good mate?

ADAM: If I was stranded on a desert island with Michael I would definitely take my headphones. Everyone needs some time on their own, and if Michael kept talking to me I could just put them on and zone out. Michael likes to talk A LOT! The other thing Id take would be a satellite phone, so I could call someone to get me off the island.

MICHAEL: If I were stranded on a desert island with Adam, Id take a football and a spear gun to catch fish. Thats our mobs way.

ADAM: Michael and I call each other cuz or bruz, and we have some other nicknames too. I call him Magic and he calls me Goodsey or the Godfather, because I am godfather to his children.

My other nickname is X Factor. One day, after I kicked a few goals and I was walking off the ground, the boys heard me muttering to myself and thought that I was saying the difference. From then on they called me The Difference or The X Factor, because they said that I was the difference between us winning or losing. As a kid I was called Roy, because thats my middle name.

MICHAEL: As a kid, on the field I was always just called Mick. When I got to Sydney they gave me the nickname Magic, which then became Majo. One guy at training said I had something like magic and it just stuck.

Its an awesome nickname! Sometimes they arent so great theres one guy on the team called Booger! Everyone now calls me Micky O or Majo. Even my kids will say, Micky O, Im hungry.

I call Adam The Godfather because hes the godfather of my kids. He knows that if something happens to me theyre his responsibility like it or not, hes got to look after them. And my kids are obsessed with him we catch up at least once a week.

ADAM: When youre at school, your friends are people you share things in common with, or perhaps youre just in the same class. Some people might be your friend because they live next door to you, or they might even like the sports you play. Other friends can be people youre in a team with. So there are lots of different ways you can become friends.

When youre older, friendship is often about sharing common interests, but its also about your morals what you like and dislike. You become more aware of what people say and how they treat people. Basically, I want to be around people who treat others well. I want to be around people who care for others the same way I do.

MICHAEL: Friendships change over time. When you grow up your goals change, and you decide who you want to be. You think about whether you want to be like your parents or your cousins, and so you change how you behave.

I knew that if I wanted to play sport I couldnt go and smoke. I couldnt go out drinking with my mates all night. I knew I had to train. I didnt really realise that by choosing those things, it meant I wasnt making bad decisions like stealing cars. Some kids chose to steal cars; I knew that if I did that I wouldnt be playing football. I wasnt an angel but knew the difference between right and wrong. I had to go to school to play football.

It helped that my friends growing up liked football, because I wouldnt have been able to go to half the games if their parents hadnt driven me. But thats also where I was very single-minded, because it didnt matter if my friends played footy or not, I would still go and train and play because I loved what I was doing.

ADAM: You can still be friends with people who dont like the same things as you. Take Michael, for instance: we are great mates, but I like playing cards and golf, and he doesnt. Thats probably because hes not very good at them!

MICHAEL: Adam likes golf; I dont like golf. He likes cards and can play for hours by himself. Id rather watch a movie or read a good book. It doesnt mean our friendship is any lesser for it.

One of Adams really great strengths is that he invests time in his relationships with people. Hes probably the best at it that Ive ever seen. Thats how friendships are sustained.

ADAM: I still have friends who say things that I dont agree with, but I always tell them if they want to continue being my friend, they have to make better choices about what they say and when they say it.

For me, its about being honest. If your good friend says or does something you dont agree with, or makes you feel sad or angry, then you should talk about it with them.

MICHAEL: Now, as a grown-up, friendship is different. Its about raising a family and leading a happy life. But to achieve that, youve got to work hard, stay in school and eat the right foods. I think most people just want to be happy, do the right thing and find a girl to marry or a boy!

Adams friendship means a lot to me. The toughest moment for me was the death of my grandmother, and Adam was really solid. With those types of things, and with my family living thousands of miles away, you need to be able to rely on each other.