Geelong Football Club has announced its players and the Swans will run through a joint banner before Saturday night’s clash in a show of solidarity to Adam Goodes.

Geelong coach Chris Scott said he is optimistic that Goodes will be treated with the respect he deserves by Cats fans when the Sydney star makes his return to AFL action at Simonds Stadium this weekend.

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“The club’s put in a lot of work in consultation with the AFL, the players’ association [AFLPA] and in particular the Swans to make sure that the issue is, one, recognised and acknowledged, but two, that we do everything we possibly can to encourage good crowd behaviour,” Scott said.

Article calling for AFL players to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Adam Goodes. Click the picture to read.

Last week, The New Daily called for AFL players to stand beside Goodes on his return to the game.

“Players need to stand shoulder to shoulder with Goodes,” the article said.

“If players from other clubs threw their weight behind Goodes and showed solidarity – as they did so wonderfully in the days following Phil Walsh’s death – perhaps genuine progress would be made in Australian race relations.”

It is now a view shared by the highest echelons of the game. Announcing the decision for the two teams to run onto the ground together, Geelong chief executive Brian Cook said “respect and unity are two of our club’s core values, and we have found through the years that the Swans share a similar outlook to our club”.

“We believe the teams coming together before the game in this way is a clear message that while we compete during the game, there is and should always be great respect shown within that contest. We love the fact that supporters are passionate, but we do not want this to cross the line.

“All players should feel comfortable that they are being treated fairly and we have great faith that our supporters will be doing all they can to help our team, but that doesn’t include the reaction we have seen towards Adam in recent weeks.”

But fans should not expect the show of unity to affect either team’s appetite for the contest.

Scott said after the mark of respect, the priority for Cats players was to focus on competing as hard and as well as possible in a match which is crucial to the finals aspirations of both sides.

Goodes took a week away from the sport after being relentlessly booed by opposition supporters – a response which the dual Brownlow medallist and Sydney believed was racially motivated.