To sing or not to sing the national anthem before an AFL final? It is time for the AFL debate on national pride
MANY international athletes are divided on the purpose of the anthem before major sporting events. AFL players should enter the debate as well, with Michelangelo Rucci arguing they should be singing it with more gusto than their club song.
THEY will belt out their club songs with gusto. Even the Greater Western Sydney players have pleasantly made something of their rather different tune.
Of course, no-one in the AFL comes close to Richmond with “We’re from Tigerland”. It is hard to imagine how even an opposition team could not want to jump in with a bar of “Yellow and Black”, even on a bus on the Gold Coast.
But for all the tenors and baritones in an AFL line-up, very few will belt out Advance Australia Fair as they stand for the national anthem before a final.
Geelong midfielder and Brownlow Medallist Patrick Dangerfield says: “I’m always one to sing the national anthem … the moment is about the national anthem.”
There are those who mumble, clearly unable to remember the third line of the Australian national anthem is: “We've golden soil and wealth for toil.”
And there are those who are completely silent.
The AFL is nowhere near its American equivalent with the long-running debate — that involves President Donald Trump — on the NFL players falling to their knees since 2016 during the American national anthem as a form of protest. What began as a statement from black NFL footballers on racism has deepened to take issue with Trump’s policies.
The AFL did have it national anthem moment during last year’s major round when the Crows took up their “stare” or “power stance” — supposedly fashioned by captain Taylor Walker — as they lined up for their three finals against the Giants, Geelong and Richmond in the grand final at the MCG.
The SANFL had its unforgettable national anthem moment — that ultimately forced teams to line-up away from each other — in the 1984 grand final at Football Park when Norwood full back Craig Balme, in a pre-meditated strike, boxed on with Port Adelaide full forward Tim Evans.
But Australian football has not had the same debate that has followed international soccers teams that have been embarrassed by the public commentary when the world game’s stars are silent during the playing of national anthems, particularly at the World Cup.
Perhaps it is reflective of a relatively new national anthem that is now in its 35th year as Australia’s official song. But a generation of AFL players, such as Dangerfield, have grown up with Advance Australia Fair as the only anthem of their time. Can it be — even with that fourth line of “Our home is girt by sea” — too demanding of an AFL player to sing the national anthem before a final?
International rugby is superb for the all-in singing — from the field to the terraces — of the national anthems, particularly in the Six Nations series in Europe.
World football has divided opinion and practice.
Argentine master Lionel Messi will not sing his national anthem — and, after being challenged on his silence, says he now does it on purpose: “One (the fans) started moaning about it, I started doing it on purpose. Whether you sing it or not isn’t going to change anything. It’s a load of nonsense.”
Perhaps the AFL Players’ Association will add the anthem question to its annual player survey next year.
michelangelo.rucci@news.com.au