Essendon great Michael Long believes AFL spectators are getting behind the code’s fight against racism in football.

Few men have done more for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cause within the AFL than Long.

Although he dazzled the league with his brilliance for the Bombers on the field for 12 years, Long’s continued fight for racial equality has been his greatest gift to the country.

Now, on the 10th anniversary of his ‘Long Walk to Dreamtime at the ‘G’, Long believes the footy-going public is starting to get the message.

“You see the supporters are getting behind it. They’re not accepting it, they’re not accepting hearing this type of language at the football,” Long told the ABC.

“That has played a part to the bigger picture and where the game is today, so you see the rippling effect.

“The fight against it is only just, I think, strengthening.”

It is a seemingly never-ending crusade that Long finds himself on, as unsavoury stories of racial vilification from AFL fans towards players have stolen headlines in 2014.

After the very public saga involving Adam Goodes and Eddie McGuire in 2013, one would have hoped for a tangible change this season.

But Goodes has once again found himself the target of abuse this year, and Long knows there is still plenty of work to be done.

“It does disappoint you when you it raise its head again,” he said.

“(Goodes) is a wonderful man, a great character, and he wants to be treated with respect, and I think he’s earned that.

“You’re never going to completely eradicate it, but I think with the education side of it, especially this weekend, with the celebration, our supporters have taken on that role as the campaign against racism.”

AFL gets behind Long’s cause

While complete eradication of racism in football may be impossible, Long says it is not for a lack of trying.

More and more clubs are putting programs in place to aid awareness and education, the AFL’s ‘Dreamtime at the ‘G’ match between Richmond and Essendon has become a key part of the yearly fixture, and the league is part of a growing campaign to see Indigenous people gain recognition in Australia’s constitution.

These are advancements that Long could only have dreamed of when he stood up to an on-field racist slur in 1995, forcing the AFL into action and bringing about the introduction of its racial vilification code.

‘The Long Walk’ is an initiative removed from football though, as Long sought to make a tangible difference in the life of Indigenous Australians, not just those on footy fields.

“I felt really strongly that something needed to be done,” he said.

“When our Aboriginal people, the oldest culture in the world, were dying at a young age, with all the challenges we face as Australians, it needed to be highlighted and put back on the agenda.

“I felt strongly about the government, I didn’t see there was any love for Aboriginal people.”

In 2013, more than 16,000 people walked alongside Long from Federation Square to the MCG.

In 2014, and for the 10th time, Long will make the journey again knowing that, now more than ever, the people of Australia are behind him.