For 37 seconds prior to the first bounce, the Sydney Cricket Ground pulsed with emotion during what must have been one of the more moving episodes seen in the storied ground's history.

In tribute to their missing champion, the Swans had arranged for 37 pictures of Adam Goodes to be flashed up on the sightscreen, the penultimate of which was that powerful image of Goodes brandishing an imagined spear.

The cheer then, which had been building throughout the countdown,  reached a crescendo yet again. Everyone, it seemed, wanted to communicate their respect and regard for a man who had sought to highlight one of a nation's ills, and been victimised for it.

"I think if everyone cheers loud enough, he will feel it and he will see it," said Michael Bark, a long-time Swans member, immediately before the bounce. "And you know what, I think everyone feels it," he said.

Prior to and during Saturday's game, this was a common refrain among Swans fans and even those supporting the Adelaide Crows. They wanted to let Goodes, the subject of polarising boos that have been attributed to racial prejudice, know they were behind him. 

Bark's sister Stacey carried the Herald's poster in support of Goodes onto the field with her as she helped form a guard of honour for the Swans with other 20-year members. And many other fans had created their own makeshift tributes to the two-time Brownlow medallist. 

"The support today will be earth shattering, and I hope he hears it wherever he is," said Sean Peter, arriving about two hours before the first bounce.

David McGonigal helped hand out t-shirts emblazoned with a white 37 on red background that were gone well before the start of play. He said: "The one thing I really hope comes through the TV if Adam is at home watching is how loved he is."

But there were also stronger emotions many wanted to talk about the furore that embroiled the Swans champion.

"I'm really pissed off," said Lesley Tipping, who, with Peters, had arrived with a sign declaring their respect and support for Goodes. "It's made me extremely angry," she said. "We want to raise our children to think that Australians are inclusive and it is just uncalled for."

Margaret Heard, who with other Swans fans on the Red and White Online forum distributed 1000 red shirts with Goodes' number 37 on them two hours before the game, said she had been in tears at times in the past week thinking of the two-time Brownlow medallist.

And the feelings were not confined to Swans fans. Rebecca Vavic complemented her Adelaide Crows scarf and jersey with a "We Love Adam Goodes" sign.

"As a white Australian I am ashamed at our behaviour, how we are treating our Indigenous population," said Vavic, from Canberra. "I'm making a stand not just about how Adam Goodes is being treated but about how we treat our indigenous culture - it should be something we are proud of."

Inside the ground, Chris Bonney, a Narrunga man from South Australia, was moved to attend a Crows game by the events of the week. 

"To be very honest I'm a Port Power fan, but I'm here to support my brother," Mr Bonney.

But Mr Bonney, who said the booing of Goodes had served to highlight racism in the country, said some good could come of the game's exposure. 

"I think today is going to be a watershed for great changes in our country," he said.

"This whole week a lot of people have been very emotional and very upset, Indigenous people and non-Indigenous people, everyone's felt it and everyone's talking about it. But it is finally now that we as a nation are going - you know what - there is something there and we are going to say no." 

When the game began, the start could not have been more perfect. Lewis Jetta, the other Swan to have risked the outrage of the easily offended by dancing with a spear that wasn't there, kicked the first goal within a minute - and celebrated with a dance. And nobody bothered to boo Adelaide.