League great Mark Carroll ‘disappointed’ by Australian national anthem snub

Players make their own decisions about singing the national anthem before matches and it doesn’t sit well with one NRL great.

A rugby league great has expressed his disappointment at the reluctance of modern players to sing the Australian national anthem before representing their country.

A staple of major sporting events for decades, Advance Australia Fair has typically been sung by a professional singer, with the players singing along arm-in-arm, often with a noticeable delay on TV broadcasts and rarely in key.

Watch every Pacific Championship game LIVE on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer.

There has been a shift in recent years, however, with players often choosing not to sing the anthem these days for a variety of reasons.

Some members of the Kangaroos opted not to sing the anthem when they faced Samoa last year, shortly after The Voice referendum failed, which resulted in some stinging criticism from some circles.

The anthem is also no longer played prior to matches involving an Indigenous All Stars team following a call not to sing it led by Rabbitohs five-eighth Cody Walker in 2019.

The Kangaroos line up for the anthem before this month’s clash with Samoa. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

It is largely a personal choice whether to sing or not, but one rugby league figure that is disappointed by the recent approaches is Mark “Spudd” Carroll.

The 57-year-old, who played 12 Tests for Australia and seven games for the Blues on top of more than 200 club matches, says he loved to belt out the pre-match tradition.

With some top players opting not to represent Australia in this year’s Pacific Championship, led by Kalyn Ponga before his backflip and an injured Liam Martin, Carroll was asked on SEN 1170 Sportsday if the Australian jumper had lost some lustre.

“As a kid, I dreamed about playing for Australia,” he said.

“Just to hear that anthem, I was a (big) singer … I watch the anthem now, it disappoints me if the blokes don’t sing it.”

Back in 2020, as you can see below, the Wallabies sang a version of the anthem that featured a first verse in the language of the Eora people, who were First Nations inhabitants of Sydney, where the match against Argentina was being played.

All players passionately sang both versions of the anthem, one in the Indigenous language and the second in English, in a moment that was mostly well received.

When the NRL players made their stance last year, former Kangaroos hooker Max Krilich was among those voicing strong opposition.

“If you don’t to want sing the anthem then don’t play for the Kangaroos,” he said bluntly.

“It embarrasses me when they stand there staring like stunned mullets during the national anthem.

“It’s one-in, all-in, so if you don’t want to sing the song then you’re out.”

Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga was also asked about the furore at the time and while he sings the anthem, he was comfortable with his players making up their own minds.

“They’ve grown up with certain values, certainly with their families, and those values have got to be respected,” he said.

“I think it’s up to the individual. I personally sing the national anthem because I’m a proud Australian.

Mark "Spud" Carroll is disappointed with some of the current players. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

Carroll loved nothing more than representing his country.

“There’s no doubt that they’re not less passionate Australians, they’re not less passionate people that want to put the green and gold jersey on … they’ve just got a value set that’s different and I think that needs to be recognised and acknowledged.”

A number of sporting identities have also discussed the pre-match displays by some of the Pacific nations players.

New Zealand, Samoa and Tonga all conduct passionate pre-match war cries, known as the Haka, Siva Tau and Sipi Tau respectively.

Carroll loves watching them before matches get underway.

“I love the Haka, the Haka is magnificent,” he said.

“I love the intensity and passion of each nation, the Tongans, the Samoans and the Kiwis.

“It means so much to them.

Australian players make their own choices about the anthem. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

“(You see) how hard they slap their legs, they have red marks on their legs when they finish.”

The issue arose in England on Sunday (AEDT), when Samoa performed an extremely passionate version of the Siva Tau before their league Test against the home side.

Queensland and Australian great Corey Parker said he would have struggled to maintain his composure if faced with the same Samoan war cry as England.

The Samoans took it right up to England, literally, butting heads with some of their opponents, who were camped on their own side of the halfway line.

Samoa had a bunch of NRL regulars in its line-up, with St George Illawarra forward Luciano Leilua leading the ceremony, which also featured Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Jeremiah Nanai and Izack Tago.

The Wallabies sing the anthem in 2020. Photo: Twitter

The key contest, however, was Manly hooker Gordon Chan Kum Tong getting right in the face of England’s Mikey Lewis.

Towards the end of the intense exchange, Lewis can be seen mouthing “let’s go”.

England won a fiery encounter 34-18, scoring six tries to three, and skipper George Williams said afterwards he relished the pre-match build-up.

“It was just a stand-off, to be honest,” he said.

“Standing on that halfway line and fronting up … we see that as our territory and we didn’t want to let them come over it for the start of the game.

“I think that’s where it (the niggle) starts, doesn’t it? I think it’s a mindset of both teams and then it probably boiled over a bit.

“They’ve got to earn to get over our side and that’s the culture we’ve built with England.

“I enjoyed it. It got me pumped up.”

One league identity that didn’t enjoy it was Parker, who played 13th Tests for the Kangaroos and 19 times for the Maroons in his 15-year career.

Samoa's intense pre-match war cry.

The players got very close to the English side.

Parker, who retired in 2016, told SEN Radio he would have battled to restrain himself if he was confronted in similar fashion by Chan Kum Tong.

“I’m all for the war cries but what happens, hypothetically, if Gordon Chan Kum Tong does that and you give him a good, old-fashioned ‘don’t argue, get out of my space’ type thing?” he asked.

“Is that disrespectful? Are you supposed to just cop it? Do you just wear whatever’s going on? If there’s a little shove at the start of the game, who’s at fault?

“They are right in your face, right in your space.

“If Gordon Chan Kum Tong came and pressed his head firmly into mine and I was in an Australian jumper … come on, mate, come on.

“Are we supposed to just cop it because it’s a war cry? I appreciate it, I respect it but don’t come and push your head into mine. I don’t know if I would react that kindly.”

Originally published as League great Mark Carroll ‘disappointed’ by Australian national anthem snub