Adam Goodes has retired from football, but he shouldn't retire from public life. The country needs heroes, and he is one of the best.

His behaviour after the Swans' exit from the AFL finals was typical. No announcement of his retirement before the match. No carrying off by teammates. No chance for a standing ovation from the crowd at Homebush.

He would have received the public plaudits if he had wanted them.

His first kick of Saturday's game resulted in a goal, so did his last. He won the Brownlow medal twice, was named an All Australian four times, played 372 games and scored 464 goals. He was Australian of the Year in 2014.

This year he did Australia proud when he properly called out racism, only to cop more of it with disgraceful booing from opposition crowds. His service as the face of the campaign for an overdue change to the Constitution to acknowledge the central place of our Indigenous peoples to Australian life has been superb.

He played masterfully on the field, he serves well off it, he doesn't show off. He is unlike what we see from too many of Australia's sportsmen, full of hubris, too big for their boots and revelling in quick praise for modest records.

Not Goodes. He is an example to those like Nick Kyrgios and the Australian men's cricket team. He proves that modesty remains both honourable and popular. He lives the motto: actions, not words. He is a proud Indigenous man, an inspiration to all Australia.

The actions of sports stars often dominate the national conversation by their misdeeds, but those like Goodes show they can change the country for the better.

Former Essendon player Michael Long in 1995 confronted a racist ruckman during an AFL match. Wallabies David Pocock and Stephen Moore protested against a homophobic slur in the middle of a Super Rugby game in March. Their teammate Matt Toomua joined the Mardi Gras parade the same month. Those kinds of actions make Australia a better, more inclusive place, proud of its variety.

Goodes is an incredible asset for Indigenous Australia, and the whole community will lose if he leaves public life as well as the Sydney Swans.

He told Nine News on Sunday, "It's not as though I'm disappearing." That has to be a good thing, for we need a little more inspiration.

A contributing factor to these dispiriting times is a scarcity of leadership, with the country burdened with two duds as national leaders for two years. The relief that one has gone is palpable, with much of Australia waiting to see if Malcolm Turnbull can fulfil his potential to be the leader the country craves.

Tony Abbott seemed incapable of it. Kevin Rudd showed promise on election and with the apology to the stolen generation, but then cowered at his own greatest moral challenge. He was let down by his deeply flawed character.

Julia Gillard was prevented from becoming a true national leader by the way she obtained power, by her own mistakes in exercising it, and by Rudd's vengeance at the loss of it.

John Howard learned from his interregnum, between losing the Liberal leadership in 1989 and retaking it in 1995. He was a superb administrator, but hardly a inspiration to most of the community. Turnbull has the the potential to be both, if he can keep his ego in check and if he applies the lessons learnt in his own wilderness years.

He has the chance to be a transformative leader, a political hero for a country desperately in need of one. But the only way to become a hero is by deeds done. The jury on Turnbull will be out for years.

For Goodes, the verdict on his heroic leadership was delivered last night by those around him, who filled the space left by his modesty.

Retiring teammate Rhyce Shaw said Goodes was an AFL champion and "one of the greatest people I've ever met".
"He wanted to retire this way and he's done it and he deserves every accolade he gets."

His head coach, John Longmire observed: "By no means has his career been defined by what happened at times this season. His career's been defined by the type of player and person he has been for a long time."

Opposition leader Bill Shorten acknowledged the Sydneysider's influence spreads far past AFL, tweeting, "You're a great footballer, great role model and great Australian."

Goodes may not have sought to become a hero for our time, but he is one. We need him to stick around.

Twitter: @dick_tim