State of Origin 2020: Time to yank the anthem tradition

Latrell Mitchell, Josh Addo-Carr and Cody Walker did not sing the national anthem before the State of Origin clash in Brisbane last year Picture: Getty Images

As backflips go, it was quicker and more elaborate than anything Blake Ferguson could perform to celebrate a try. Backwards somersault, with pike, landing exactly where you started just a few hours before.

One phone call from the world’s best-known Cronulla supporter – plus a few thousand people voting in a Daily Telegraph online poll – and the ARL Commission reversed its decision to scrap the singing of Advance Australia Fair before State of Origin matches.

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Reaction, as you would expect, has been varied. The high-profile Cronulla fan, Prime Minister Scott Morrison, praised the reversal as an outbreak of common sense. “There’s never been a more important time to celebrate by singing the national anthem,” he said.

Indigenous players such as Josh Addo-Carr and Cody Walker, who declined to sing the anthem last year, will no doubt think otherwise. And the airwaves, newspaper columns and social media feeds across Australia – or, at least, the rugby league-loving section of it – are full of people expressing views for or against State of Origin anthem singing.

What nobody is saying is that the position the commission returned to after its backflip, the singing of the national anthem before any major sporting event whether it involves national teams or not, is a ridiculous Americanism in no way supported by logic.

A national anthem is a rallying call for a nation, an expression of unity by a people. We sing it at sporting events when our national team is about to go into battle on our behalf, to show our support, to express our pride, maybe to pump them up a bit.

Why on earth should anyone be singing the national anthem before, after or during State of Origin, when the teams involved represent NSW and Queensland – not Australia?

Why sing the national anthem before the AFL grand final? No Australian team. Why sing it before the NRL grand final? No Australian team.

Blake Ferguson during the playing of the national anthem ahead of Origin II in Perth last year Picture: Getty Images

They’ll sing it before the third Bledisloe Test between the Wallabies and the All Blacks at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night, as they should. God Defend New Zealand will be followed by Advance Australia Fair before two national teams go at it.

When the Australian and Indian teams line up at the start of the first one-day international of the summer, both anthems will be belted out. Absolutely appropriate.

Australians who win gold medals at next year’s postponed Tokyo Olympics will stand atop the podium as the Australian flag is raised to the strains of the anthem.

But to sing it at grand finals, race meetings and State of Origin matches is something borrowed from the US, where they roll out the Star Spangled Banner at the drop of a hat.

Every baseball match and football game in the US has the anthem performed before the action – often by someone in uniform.

Such persistent performances undervalue a piece of music that should be preserved for moments of national pride.

Forget about the political correctness – reluctance to sing the national anthem at State of Origin matches should not be a political statement. It’s just common sense.