Melbourne Storm cancel NRL Welcome to Country before South Sydney match

The Melbourne Storm have blamed a “miscommunication” after a divisive pre-match ceremony was cancelled on Anzac Day.

A planned Welcome to Country ceremony for Friday night’s NRL clash between the Storm and Rabbitohs in Melbourne was cancelled at the last minute.

Australians were observing Anzac Day on Friday, with a number of events also including the divisive Welcome to Country.

Apparent neo-Nazis attended a Dawn Service at the Shrine of Remembrance in the Melbourne CBD on Friday morning and began booing when Bunurong elder Mark Brown began his Welcome to Country.

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Their booing was drowned out by the rest of the crowd, who cheered in protest against the disruption, and the act has since been widely condemned.

A respectful Welcome to Country was held ahead of the huge AFL clash between Collingwood and Essendon, while the practice was not used in the pre-match Anzac Day ceremony for the day’s later fixture between Fremantle and Adelaide in Perth.

Watch the NRL ceremony that did go ahead in the video player above

The Storm players pose during the Anzac Day ceremony. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

Aunty Joy Murphy has given the Welcome to Country at a wide range of sporting events. Pic: Michael Klein

Wurundjeri elder Aunty Joy Murphy was scheduled to perform the service at the Storm’s AAMI Park match before she was informed just hours before kick-off the Welcome to Country ceremony was no longer wanted.

The Age states the club reversed its decision and asked her to continue as planned after issuing her an apology.

Two First Nations groups were also scheduled to perform on the night, but after the confusion they all opted to cancel their performances.

“We were all just dumbfounded,” Aunty Joy told The Age.

“We would dearly love to be out there, but they’ve broken our hearts.

“We want to rebuild our relationship. We want to make them (realise) that this was wrong, hurtful, deceitful and tokenistic.”

The Welcome to Country is received – and understood – in very different ways by Australians and has become a highly polarising issue at major events.

The Storm later released a statement blaming a “miscommunication” for the cancellation.

“There was a miscommunication of expectations regarding the use (of) Welcome to Country at Melbourne Storm events throughout the year,” the club said.

“We acknowledge and accept the timing and miscommunication was not ideal and we have spoken to the groups concerned this afternoon.”

The Storm said it intend to hold Welcome To Country ceremonies during the NRL’s multicultural and indigenous rounds this season.

The Rabbitohs and Storm in action once the game got underway. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

The Storm ran an Acknowledgement of Country message on the big screens before their Anzac commemoration.

In front of a massive crowd at the MCG for Collingwood’s showdown with Essendon, representatives of the Australian Army, Navy and Airforce along with a single drummer marched from the goal line to commence Friday’s ceremony.

There was then warm applause before and after Wurundjeri man Uncle Colin Hunter junior gave the Welcome to Country.

RSL Victoria president Robert Webster then gave the Ode of Remembrance before the Last Post rang out.

The Welcome to Country ceremony at the MCG. Photo: Fox Sports

An impeccable silence was observed throughout from the packed house before the New Zealand and Australian national anthems were sung and six fighter jets roared overhead in formation.

A number of former and current service men and women were shown in the crowd during the service, including some singing along to Advance Australia Fair.

Following the ceremony, Fox Footy commentator Gerard Whateley then referenced the earlier trouble at the Shrine of Remembrance when he said: “Poignant and rousing. How blessed we are, medals on full display around the terraces and the stands.

“What an occasion to try to rise to.

A number of veterans were in attendance at the MCG. Photo: Fox Sports

“The applause for the Welcome to Country perhaps a response to what’s happened elsewhere around the country today.

“A profound silence and then a mighty roar for the celebration of who we are as a people and the national game that’s about to take place in front of us.”

Just before the opening bounce, Fox Footy’s Sarah Jones called the ceremony “sensational, spine tingling stuff”.

AFL great David King added it was “hard not to get emotional really, to be fair”.

After the earlier trouble in the Melbourne CBD, Sunrise host Natalie Barr savaged those who booed the Welcome to Country at the Dawn Service, calling the disruption “disgusting”.

– with NewsWire

Originally published as Melbourne Storm cancel NRL Welcome to Country before South Sydney match