Adam Goodes says 2014 will be all about balance, with his role at the Sydney Swans not taking a back seat to his responsibilities as Australian of the Year.

The 34-year-old, who became the first VFL-AFL player to take out the prestigious national honour, returned to the SCG on Monday morning following a whirlwind weekend in Canberra, which saw Goodes receive the Australian of the Year award on Saturday evening.

Speaking to the Sydney media for the first time since accepting the award, Goodes said while he intended to continue to lead the charge to eliminate racism, his day job still remained a major priority this year.

“Balance is always key and football will always come first because that’s my job and I’m out of contract at the end of this year so I want to make this a really big season for me,” Goodes told media at Lakeside Oval on Monday morning.

“I only played half the season last year and I was really disappointed about that so I want to make sure I give myself every opportunity to be the best I can on the footy field.

“In saying that, this is a really important year for me to use this platform and I’m going to take those opportunities when I can to talk about it and to talk about things that I’m passionate about.

“Hopefully that will balance each other out and it will result in a good year, and even after the year is finished.”

Goodes, who received the award for his ongoing work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth through the Go Foundation as well as his actions to stamp out racism, said he intended to continue to lead by example this year.

The dual Brownlow Medallist said he didn’t feel he needed to make any drastic changes to the way he went about his work both on and off the field to influence change.

“I’m not going to change doing anything that I was going to do whether as Australian of the Year or not,” he said.

“I’m going to continue standing up for what I believe in and keep talking about issues that are true to my heart and things that have affected me in my upbringing to this point in time.

“Hopefully through my experiences and my conversations, that can help other people do the same thing.”

Adam Goodes at Sydney Swans training this morning

Goodes received a warm welcome at pre-season training this morning, with his team mates, coaches and supporters congratulating him on his recent honour.

The dual premiership player said he was touched to receive so much support and encouragement from his Swans’ family.

“The boys are just so proud,” he said.

“It was so nice to walk in today and just have everyone come up and see how proud of me they are as a person and as team mates as well.

“It’s so nice. You can see just how much they look up to me and all of our older players and it was quite rewarding to feel that love when I came in early in the morning.”

Now entering his 16^th season of AFL football, Goodes paid tribute to the Sydney Swans and the role the club played in shaping the man he is today.

The 331-game player said the Swans had always given him the courage to pursue his goals both on and off the field.

“It’s something I spoke about a few years ago at the jumper presentation about finding my culture and something to belong to and to believe in and how I was an elder of our culture at the Swans,” he said.

“Just being entrusted in the leadership group to pass on that knowledge and skill that I had in the football sense.

“There is no doubt that the culture we started under Paul Roos which is continuing on now through Johnny Longmire and the leadership group, it’s definitely given me the confidence, the strength and a set of behaviours to live by well after my football career will be finished.”