Cameron Munster has spoken out in defence of the ‘culture’ of the Kangaroos side after several stars came under fire for not singing the national anthem at the World Cup.
Latrell Mitchell, Bradman Best and Keaon Koloamatangi all appeared to keep their mouths shut as a Channel 7 camera swept past players while the anthem played ahead of their clash with New Zealand last week.
While Reece Walsh showed just how much it meant to him to pull on the green and gold and was in tears as Advance Australia Fair was played.
But the same can’t be said for some other members of the Kangaroos team or the women’s side, the Jillaroos, who didn’t even mutter the words.
Download our new app and never miss a headline
And that saw fierce debate erupt over whether players should be expected to sing, with veteran journalist Dean Ritchie saying Aussie players not singing made him “sick in the stomach” and Manly cult figure Peter Peters labelling it a “disgrace”, calling for any player who doesn’t sing to be banned from representing the country.
“Don’t you hate it when players, men and women, don’t sing the national anthem,” Peters said.
“I’m strong about this. I know I’ll be ridiculed, but I don’t care. I want a coach that’s strong enough. I want a game that’s strong enough that says, ‘If you don’t sing the national anthem in our colours, you don’t play’.
“I don’t care who you are. You could be the best player in the game. If you don’t sing the national anthem like it’s been sung before by players wearing the green and gold.
“We are a disgrace and the women are just as bad as the men. In fact, I counted a few more of them that had their lips just sealed. It’s wrong and it shouldn’t happen.”
He continued: “I don’t want to play with a player who doesn’t sing. If I was ever good enough, and I wasn’t. To sing the national anthem on a big stage like the World Cup. If my teammate next to me, I know what John O’Neill (rugby league hall of fame enforcer) would have done. I know what Malcolm Reilly (English legend) would have done to the Poms. Put one right on their chin.”
Only adding fuel to the fire was the pride shown by Samoa, Tonga and Fijian players as their national anthems were played before their opening World Cup games.
Tears flowed repeatedly as those nations’ stars belted out their national anthems in deeply moving scenes.
However, Munster said the narrative that Australian players aren’t as proud to wear the green and gold as the Pacific Island nations is well off the mark.
“We talk about culture and other nations, but we’re very proud to wear the green and gold,” Munster told Triple M after Thursday night’s win over the Kiwis.
“It’s something that we pride ourselves on.
“We’ve obviously got a lot of cultures around the game. Big cultures like Tonga, Samoa, Kiwis, PNG, Lebanon. But we probably don’t get spoken about enough – the Aussies – when it comes to culture. We’re really proud of our green and gold and really excited to wear it tonight.”
While Walsh revealed post-game his tears were because his parents – of Maori and Indigenous descent – could see him pull on the green and gold.
“Even thinking about it now, just thinking of my old man, my mum and dad, and having my family there,” he said.
“It’s the first time that they’re watching me put on the Aussie jersey.
“I couldn’t see them in the crowd there. I was looking for them, and then when I spotted them, the emotions started coming out. I was just happy that I got to share it with my family. I had my daughter there; my mum and dad were in the stands. It’s probably one of the proudest moments for myself.”
However, it is hardly a new thing for players not to sing, with footage from decades ago also showing next to no players singing the anthem.
Footage from the Kangaroos tour of England in the 1990s, which you can watch at the top of the page, shows the squad tight-lipped as the national anthem played.
You can watch that footage at the top of the page.
Australia won that Ashes series 2–1 against Great Britain, and back then nobody seemed to bat an eyelid that certain players didn’t sing.
Footage from the 1994 series shows several stars not singing, including the likes of Laurie Daley and Brad Fittler, and even one with their arms crossed.
But in the last decade it has suddenly become a big talking point when a star doesn’t sing.
After Payne Haas, Kotoni Staggs, Selwyn Cobbo and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow didn’t sing the anthem against Samoa in the Pacific Championships in 2023, former Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga came out in defence of his players after they were slammed online.
“They’ve grown up with certain values, certainly with their families and those values have got to be respected,” Meninga said.
“I think it’s up to the individual. I personally sing the national anthem because I’m a proud Australian.
“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.”
Yet many Australians remain angered by the fact that many in the current Kangaroos squad don’t sing the anthem.
But the reality is the Australian national anthem is not without controversy, and it has been well documented as to why Indigenous players choose largely not to sing it.
Others have also said the players are ‘in the zone’ in the moments before the game begins and focused on the game rather than the anthem that is blaring out.
Ultimately the fact is, in the 80 minutes after Advance Australia Fair played on Thursday night, the 17 players that ran onto the field in a Kangaroos jersey put their bodies on the line to get the win against one of the strongest New Zealand teams in recent memory.
The Kiwis were dominant throughout, but the heart of the Kangaroos shone through as they kept turning up for their mates and hung tough.
That’s what it means to be Australian and to play with pride, so is singing or not singing the national anthem really what matters?
Originally published as Cameron Munster defends Aussie culture amid national anthem furore at Rugby League World Cup