Crisp on Sunday

The Kiwis will sing on Sunday, in two languages, then shake Suncorp with a haka. Some of our Kangaroos will stand in silence. Something has to change, and Brian Crisp has an idea where to start.

On Sunday, Australia and New Zealand meet at Suncorp Stadium in the Rugby League World Cup final. Before a ball is kicked, both teams will line up for their national anthems, and I think I already know how it will look.

The Kiwis will sing. All of them. First in te reo Māori, then in English. Then they’ll lay down a haka that will shake the very foundations of Suncorp.

And on our side? If it’s anything like earlier in the tournament, several Kangaroos will stand there, arms around their teammates, lips shut.

It isn’t just the men. When the Jillaroos opened their World Cup campaign, some of them didn’t sing either, and the outrage on talkback and social media was loud and immediate.

We’ve seen it all tournament. Tonga and Samoa have sung their anthems as if their lives depended on it, arms linked, eyes closed, voices cracking with emotion, with their fans roaring every word back from the stands. It’s been one of the great sights of this World Cup, and it has made our silent line-up look badly out of step.

Now let me tell you about last Saturday.

My wife and I were in the UK, and Scotland were playing New Zealand at Murrayfield. Kick-off was 3.10pm. At 3pm, we ran downstairs, switched on the TV and caught a rousing New Zealand anthem. Then a lone piper appeared on the roof of the stadium and began to play Flower of Scotland.

Even now, my skin tingles as I write this.

The Scottish team, to a player, belted it out. Behind them, more than 67,000 fans joined in. And when the piper stopped, the stadium just kept singing.

I’m not Scottish. But at that moment, I wanted to be. Scotland lost the match. It didn’t matter. I can only imagine what it felt like down on the ground, wearing that jersey, with that sound washing over you.

So why can’t we do that?

To be fair to our players, some have explained themselves. Kangaroos centre Kotoni Staggs, a Wiradjuri man, says he doesn’t sing out of respect for his Indigenous ancestors. “I’m a proud Wiradjuri boy, and I’m proud of who I am and where I come from,” he said. Not singing, he says, doesn’t mean he isn’t grateful, and he still loves wearing the jersey.

Laurie Daley, one of the great Kangaroos, says he never sang the anthem in his playing days, and that it didn’t make him any less proud of Australia.

I respect that. Australia isn’t perfect. Our record with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people includes serious wrongs, and I understand why the words “girt by sea” don’t stir everyone the same way.

But here’s where I land. We are Australians, all of us. And if an Australian, chosen to represent their country at a World Cup, can’t bring themselves to sing the national anthem, then one of two things is true. Either there’s something drastically wrong with the anthem, or they shouldn’t be representing their country.

I’d rather fix the first than argue about the second.

We’ve changed the anthem before. In 2021, “For we are young and free” became “For we are one and free”, in recognition of the more than 60,000 years that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have lived here. If that hasn’t gone far enough for the people we’re asking to sing it, then let’s keep going.

Look across the Tasman. New Zealand sings in two languages, and every player, whatever their background, sings with their whole heart. Their anthem belongs to all of them. Ours doesn’t seem to, yet.

So here’s my suggestion. Before the next Kangaroos and Jillaroos Tests, sit down with the players who don’t sing, and with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders, and ask them a simple question: what would you be proud to sing for Australia? A verse in an Aboriginal language, perhaps. A first verse everyone can stand behind. Whatever it takes to have every player in the green and gold singing, together.

As a kid, I wanted to play for Australia. I didn’t mind what: footy, cricket, tiddlywinks. I just wanted to pull on the green and gold, stand in that line and sing our anthem. I never got the chance. Plenty of these players have.

On Sunday, I’ll be cheering for the Kangaroos as loudly as anyone. But I’ll also be watching the line-up, and hoping that one day, Suncorp sounds like Murrayfield did last Saturday.

We need to find a way to fix this. Over to you: should our players sing, and should our anthem change? Tell me in the comments.