During a match against in May 2015, again during the AFL's annual Indigenous Round, Goodes celebrated a goal by performing an Indigenous war dance in which he mimed throwing a spear in the direction of the Carlton cheer squad. Goodes said after the incident that the dance was based on one he learned from under-16s Indigenous team the Flying Boomerangs, and that it was intended as an expression of Indigenous pride during Indigenous Round, not as a means of offending or intimidating the crowd. The "symbolic act" has been compared favourably to Nicky Winmar lifting his guernsey during the 1993 AFL season and Cathy Freeman running with both the Australian and Aboriginal flags at the 1994 Commonwealth Games. However, some spectators were offended by the perceived aggressive nature of the spear-throwing gesture, and many considered it retaliatory against the booing he had received in previous weeks. It divided opinion among News Corp commentators, with many viewing it as inflammatory to the situation which had received particularly wide media coverage during the previous week. The booing of Goodes intensified in the months after the war dance, leading further public debate and to Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion calling the booers "ignorant". Goodes was surprised by the attention and negative reaction to his dance, and later apologised for any offence, saying that because he was depicting an "Aboriginal warrior" and the ceremony was a "war cry" it needed to be directed at the opposing team's players.