Buzz: Ditch Australian national anthem if All Stars won’t sing

The NRL must ditch the anthem at the Indigenous All Stars game. It would be better than looking at 17 expressionless faces.

Your columnist is a huge fan of the national anthem at major sporting events.

I love watching the players singing and bursting with pride in TV close-ups, especially when its Australia v England. It can be a goose-bump moment.

Which brings me to the point of this column item.

MORE BUZZ: 50 things to look forward to in 2019

The one thing that disappointed me on an otherwise great occasion for rugby league in Melbourne on Friday night was the indigenous players not singing the anthem.

This is their choice and I have absolutely no problem with that.

Indigenous All Stars stayed silent during the Australian national anthem.

These guys were playing for their jersey, their families and their culture. Their passion is beautiful.

Rabbitohs star Cody Walker, who skippered the indigenous team, called for the national anthem to be changed, saying the current song: “doesn’t represent myself and my family”.

Asked if he was comfortable standing for the anthem, he said: “To be honest, no.

“It just brings back so many memories of what’s happened (in Australia’s past).

“It’s something that everyone as a group and everyone in Australia need to get together and working something out. It doesn’t represent myself and my family.”

Indigenous players perform a traditional war cry, led by Latrell Mitchell.

So the question needs to be asked … why even play the anthem at this game?

“It’s a fair debate,” says indigenous coach Laurie Daley, “I can understand the punters are talking about it.”

Daley says the anthem was never discussed while the players were in camp.

Next year the NRL should drop the anthem.

It’s better than looking at 17 expressionless faces as the cameras pan across the team.

HIGHLIGHT

For those of us who never got to see Bradman, Herb Elliot, Rod Laver or Dawn Fraser we can always say we watched Winx. The day the greatest racehorse of all time effortlessly won her 30th straight race.

HIGHLIGHT II

The Sydney Sixers-Melbourne Renegades Big Bash semi-final on Friday night and Dan Christian’s magnificent display of big-hitting in the final overs. Easily the best BBL match of the season, not that it had much to beat.

LOWLIGHT

Old ABC commentator Jim Maxwell’s attack on Shane Warne’s commentary of the Big Bash. This is outrageous coming from the man who heads up the flattest, most boring uninspiring coverage of any sport in this country.

SHOOSH 1

An eastern suburbs home invader recently picked the wrong target when he broke into the house of a former NRL player who left him with injuries that required hospital treatment.

SHOOSH II

Which former NSW Blues State of Origin star is now a vegan and turns up to barbecues with his own vegetable patties.

SPOTTED

Tough old enforcer Mark Spud Carroll, returning from major ankle surgery, to train clients at his gym.

Former rugby league star Mark "Spud" Carroll following ankle surgery.

SPOTTED II

Former Tigers legend Paul Sironen drove all the way to Albury to watch his son Bayley debut for Souths against Riverina. He even won the major raffle prize at the game — a return plane trip to Sydney for a VIP experience at Souths v Tigers. He donated it back to the club.

MORE BUZZ: 50 things to look forward to in 2019

SPOTTED III

The NRL launched its new medical bunker in a trial run in Friday night’s Maori v Indigenous All Stars game in Melbourne with a team of sports doctors and trainers monitoring the big hits on TV screens.

SPOTTED IV

Cricket Australia’s former high-performance boss Pat Howard addressing NRL football club managers at a conference in Brisbane.

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