NRL slammed by NSWALC over grand final use of Ryan James
Forget the Titans’ major sponsor copping a backlash over a decision to abandon the club based on Ryan James’ grand final stumble. Now, NSW’s peak Aboriginal body has slammed the NRL for even using the Gold Coast star in the first place.
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NSW’s peak Aboriginal body has blown up over the Titan football team’s sponsorship saga — slamming the NRL for “trivialising” the original Welcome to Country ceremony by using an elite football player to repeat what had already been performed by a local woman.
The NSW Aboriginal Land Council also slammed broadcaster Channel 9, saying the traditional ceremony should never be “diluted or superseded by the commercial interests” of sponsors and broadcasters.
Gold Coast Titans captain Ryan James forgot the words of a traditional Welcome to Country ceremony at the NRL grand final earlier this month. Sponsor TFH sparked a furore this week by cutting ties with the team, citing his “offensive behaviour” in stuffing up the delivery.
But the NSW Aboriginal Land Council today revealed a “proper” Acknowledgement of Country had already been performed by Metropolitan Land Council chairwoman Yvonne Weldon and that Ryan was a “proud Bundjalung man who was being asked to deliver a Welcome to Country on Gadigal Land”.
“This is not customary, nor appropriate,” it said in a statement today.
“It is upsetting that this was then replicated for the purposes of the television broadcast, using Ryan as the spokesman.”
“NSWALC is disappointed that the NRL and the host television broadcaster have trivialised the Welcome to Country process by using Ryan’s profile as an elite player.”
“This is a practice that has precedent and a tactic that is flawed and disrespectful.”
The council said Ms Weldon’s delivery was a “powerful, authentic and appropriate acknowledgment”.
It said it was disappointed at criticism delivered at Ryan and was concerned he had been put in the position in the first place, saying that “scrutiny is being aimed in the wrong direction”.
“NSWALC does not take issue with Ryan’s unfortunate loss of direction in his delivery,” the council stated.
“Mistakes can happen and under the pressure of standing in front of a capacity stadium crowd and under the glare of a live television broadcast, this is even more likely.
“The authenticity and respect of this ceremonial process should never be diluted or superseded by the commercial interests of a governing body, its sponsors or its broadcast partners.
“We can only hope mistakes like these will not be given the opportunity to be made again and as the peak body for Aboriginal Land Rights, we will continue to be available, offer our support, guidance and perspective should there be any doubt going forward.”
POLITICAL CORRECTNESS GONE MAD
The NSWALC comments follow TFH’s decision to pull the plug on the Gold Coast Titans football team by claiming James’ mistake was “offensive”.
The move has been slammed as another example of companies “weaponising political correctness”.
Australians are increasingly being scared into silence by people “pretending to be offended”, say free speech advocates.
Indigenous leader Warren Mundine blasted event hire giant TFH’s decision to cite the stumbled speech as one of the reasons for cutting ties as “disgraceful”, amid a growing backlash against the firm.
Indigenous Titans captain James forgot the words to his Welcome to Country address during a grand final pre-game schedule, sheepishly admitting part-way through that “I'm lost”.
The crowd cheered and clapped him on the night, but TFH director Brett Thomas wrote a letter to the club saying the team’s dismal performance and the stumble were factors in axing their six-figure contact.
"The embarrassing performance of Ryan James in his speech last weekend was offensive and weighed heavily on this decision," Mr Thomas wrote to the club.
But Institute of Public Affairs research fellow Morgan Begg said the stumble was “not a gaffe and should not have affected commercial relationships or reputations”.
“What this incident shows is how corporations can weaponise political correctness for their own benefit,” he said.
“Speech codes and political correctness are a serious problem in any context. Pretending to be offended is increasingly used as a reason to scare people into silence.
“The threat of labelling someone a bigot is one with heavy consequences, and someone who makes a mistake like James should not be tarred for the words he used — or the words he forgot to use.”
Mr Mundine, author and indigenous advocate, branded the sponsor’s reaction “a disgrace”.
“It’s beyond a joke,” Mr Mundine said. “Everybody makes mistakes when they make a speech. Using that to say it’s offensive or they are pulling their sponsorship is quite disgraceful.
“Just tell the truth, come clean about why you are not going to be a sponsor any more. But don’t blame the guy here.
“I feel sorry for the person involved in this because it’s ridiculous to put their sponsorship issue onto him.”
The backlash against the company on social media has been vocal, with the company branded “gutless” and “cowards”.
The company refused to answer questions about whether it would apologise to James, or whether its director would be able to recite the Welcome to Country himself without cues.
Titans head of culture and performance Mal Meninga yesterday hit out at the company over the move.
“I think it’s a pretty weak excuse,” Meninga said.
“They have been great sponsors of the Titans for a long period of time.
“I know there are some other things in that letter sent to them (the club).
“But for that to be part of it, it’s in pretty poor taste.”
Titans chairman Dennis Watt says he was hoping to sit down with the company’s owners to sort out the issue.
“We have nothing but enormous gratitude for their support over the years and the way they have stuck by us before,” Mr Watt said.
“We hope that by sitting down we can come to some resolution soon.”
Centre for Independent Studies policy analyst Monica Wilkie says she watched live as the crowd cheered the very “human moment” when James lost his place.
“We’ve all been there, we’ve all lost our place, our train of thought,” she said.
“It’s almost as if they (TFH) are so desperate to be seen to be doing the ‘woke thing’ they are trying to ensure there’s there can’t be criticised about at all, it’s bizarre.
“No matter what you say, even if it’s something you didn’t mean and apologise for, nothing seems to be enough. We have to return to being a bit more forgiving and understanding.”
The issue follows multiple freedom of speech controversies by sporting figures in recent months, including China’s backlash against a US basketball official for supporting Hong Kong protesters and the sacking of footballer Israel Folau for quoting the Bible.
It was announced earlier this week his wife, netball star Maria Folau, is quitting the Adelaide Thunderbirds.
She herself was attacked for tweeting support of her husband’s legal fundraising efforts and after her club announced she had not contravened its policies, former high-profile netballer Liz Ellis denounced that as “not good enough” and that she did “not want my sport endorsing the views of her husband”.
Originally published as NRL slammed by NSWALC over grand final use of Ryan James