‘Get real’: Fans split over opening to Origin I

The State of Origin opener included a political message, with an Indigenous elder encouraging Aussies to “make the right call”.

The official proceedings of the State of Origin opener in Adelaide have included a political message, with Indigenous elder Karl Winda Telfer encouraging Aussies to “make the right call” on the upcoming Voice to Parliament vote.

The official proceedings of the State of Origin opener in Adelaide included a political message, with Indigenous elder Karl Winda Telfer encouraging Aussies to “make the right call” on the upcoming Indigenous Voice to Parliament vote.

“Greetings friends. Where you sit and stand tonight is on sacred country, old country, the dreaming place of the red kangaroo,” Uncle Karl said during the Welcome to Country proceeding.

“I am and we are the red kangaroo. I am and we are the first voice from the first people of the first day. Today we are not about pushing people apart, we are about the union of us all in this great game, in this great country.

“We need to have the conversations leading up to the end of this year. And I think we are mature enough to make the right call, yeah?” he said.

The official proceedings of the State of Origin opener in Adelaide have included a political message, with Indigenous elder Karl Winda Telfer encouraging Aussies to “make the right call” on the upcoming Voice to parliament vote.

The Voice proposal has split Australia, with about 46 per cent of Australians planning to vote yes, according to the latest polls.

The insertion of comments about the Voice in the Welcome to Country received some backlash on social media.

“Welcome to country just became a big political statement for the voice. Get real,” one person wrote.

Others, however, were happy about the call for people to vote yes.

Who was that bloke at the start of #Origin telling me I’m “mature enough to make the right decision” (obviously abt the Voice. Yes I am. The decision is “No” - to another layer of ineffective central planning bureaucracy. We’ve seen how thats played out the last 3 yrs.

— HasoforSoundMoney (@Haso4M) May 31, 2023

What a cracker welcome to country. Go Queensland. Go the #Voice#Origin

— Paul Syvret (@PSyvret) May 31, 2023

When the action began on the field there was more heartbreak for NSW fans as Queensland secured a 26-18 win.