Download our new app <\/a>and never miss a headline<\/p>\nMitchell, Bradman Best and Keaon Koloamatangi appeared to have their mouths closed as a Channel 7 camera swept past players as the anthem was sung.<\/p>\n
Veteran rugby league broadcaster Peter \u201cZorba\u201d Peters took aim at the silent players when speaking on Sky Sports Radio\u2019s Big Sports Breakfast Weekend on Sunday. <\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t you hate it when players, men and women, don\u2019t sing the national anthem,\u201d the veteran media figure told weekend hosts Dean Ritchie and Ray Thomas.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m strong about this. I know I\u2019ll be ridiculed, but I don\u2019t care. I want a coach that\u2019s strong enough. I want a game that\u2019s strong enough that says, \u2018If you don\u2019t sing the national anthem in our colours, you don\u2019t play\u2019. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t care who you are. You could be the best player in the game. If you don\u2019t sing the national anthem like it\u2019s been sung before by payers wearing the green and gold.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe 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\u2019s wrong and it shouldn\u2019t happen. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Kiwis, hand on their heart as they sing. The Tongans. The Samoans. The Poms proudly sing God Save the King. It\u2019s ridiculous. And it\u2019s not good enough. And we should do something about it instead of talking about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He went on to say: \u201cI don\u2019t want to play with a player who doesn\u2019t sing. If I was ever good enough, and I wasn\u2019t. To sing the national anthem on a big stage like the World Cup. If my teammate next to me, I know what John O\u2019Neill (rugby league hall of fame enforcer) would have done. <\/p>\n
\u201cI know what Malcolm Reilly (English legend) would have done to the Poms. Put one right on their chin.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leading rugby league journalist Ritchie earlier said: \u201cNo one can tell anyone whether they sing the anthem or not, it\u2019s their individual choice. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut if you stand there representing your country and you don\u2019t want to sing that anthem, I don\u2019t know what the hell would make you so anti-patriotic. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes me sick in the stomach. It makes me sick in the stomach that they can\u2019t sing their anthem.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nobody could say it about Walsh. The Broncos fullback vomitted after making a match-saving tackle as he covered more ground on the field than any other player. <\/p>\n
Walsh admitted the occasion was emotional for him as he thought about members of his family see him in person for the first time representing his country. <\/p>\n
\u201cEven thinking about it now, just thinking of my old man, my mum and dad, and having my family there (is special),\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the first time that they\u2019re watching me put on the Aussie jersey. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe got letters through the week from our families and I was going to open it at training, but coach said \u2018don\u2019t do that, wait until you get back in your room\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cSitting there reading the letter and seeing how proud they are of me and how far I\u2019ve come and talking about all our family and friends helping us get to this point (got to me).<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t see them in the crowd there. I was looking for them, and then when I spotted them, the emotions started coming out. <\/p>\n
\u201cI 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\u2019s probably one of the proudest moments for myself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a bit of a sook. I cry over movies and shows, so when moments like these come up, I\u2019m one of those ones that wants to try and soak it in as much as you can. <\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes it\u2019s good to let your emotions out and show a bit of passion and a bit of care.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, members of the Jillaroos were the target of trolls on social media the day after the team\u2019s tournament opening win over Samoa.<\/p>\n
Posts shared by the official Jillaroos page and the official Rugby League World Cup page on Instagram and Facebook have had messages hidden or deleted.<\/p>\n
Some posts have been littered with trolling comments criticising some players for appearing not to sing the anthem.<\/p>\n
One clip of the pre-game moment has been circling across cyberspace this weekend.<\/p>\n
The clip was first shared by Australian media and politics commentator Sean Masters on X. <\/p>\n
\u201cCan someone tell Australian athletes how important it is to all sing the National Anthem, so we\u2019re all one, together, as a country, united, not divided,\u201d he posted. <\/p>\n
The post has ben liked more than 1000 times on X. <\/p>\n
Australian journalist Ryan Dally responded by writing: \u201cIf you refuse to sing the Australian national anthem, then don\u2019t wear the jersey\u201d. <\/p>\n
Originally published as \u2018We are a disgrace\u2019: Kangaroos players torched in ugly national anthem storm<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kangaroos stars have been torched by NRL commentators over footage of some players appearing not to sing the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":932664,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[499481,499443,499461,499496,376963,499464,386792,390023,499465,379201,499442,499449,379284,499492,499488,54367,499453,442794,421455,64,145610,63,29473,365857,32140,3181,16386,31445,18934,499454,499494,6986,499455,54957,38809,287311,8852,385563,376761,419253,499458,499484,499452,16283,1082,499487,25335,499489,38347,89359,147254,324879,499460,499445,438070,378592,499446,499480,499451,499493,761,762,1736,377271,158,499473,307881,474290,499482,399480,499478,494507,455202,57388,425700,499448,2950,7820,499491,499462,24992,303021,1314,499470,391012,85,1974,8825,499463,670,46206,499477,480374,462074,499495,499467,461514,426723,377127,379738,377453,376549,74713,406106,394727,497005,263253,489817,392595,380433,462081,417673,499450,499475,402743,499466,499469,499457,499490,475025,499476,499447,386315,499456,398082,315971,499459,499471,98734,380136,72503,404063,499444,499472,499479,499474,499483,378564,499485,490017,9357,1542,41734,499441,113709,499497,499486,499468,459520],"class_list":["post-932663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-s-big-sports-breakfast-weekend","tag-s-rugby-league-world-cup-opener","tag-s-tournament-opening-win","tag-a-big-stage","tag-a-bit","tag-a-channel-7-camera","tag-a-coach","tag-a-disgrace","tag-a-few-more","tag-a-game","tag-a-headlinemitchell","tag-a-match-saving-tackle","tag-a-player","tag-a-sook","tag-advance-australia-fair","tag-aim","tag-all-our-family-and-friends","tag-anthem","tag-any-other-player","tag-au","tag-aussie-stars","tag-australia","tag-australian-media","tag-bradman-best","tag-care","tag-coach","tag-comments","tag-cyberspace","tag-dad","tag-dean-ritchie-and-ray-thomas","tag-english-legend","tag-fact","tag-fame-enforcer","tag-figures","tag-footage","tag-god","tag-hand","tag-his-country","tag-his-family","tag-instagram-and-facebook","tag-john-oneill","tag-kangaroos-players","tag-kangaroos-stars","tag-keaon-koloamatangi","tag-latrell-mitchell","tag-leading-rugby-league-journalist-ritchie","tag-letters","tag-malcolm-reilly","tag-members","tag-men-and-women","tag-messages","tag-moments","tag-more-ground","tag-movies-and-shows","tag-my-daughter","tag-my-family","tag-my-mum-and","tag-my-mum-and-dad","tag-my-old-man","tag-my-teammate","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-new-zealand","tag-no-one","tag-nrl","tag-nrl-commentators","tag-one-day","tag-one-right","tag-or-deleted-some-posts","tag-other-members","tag-our-colours","tag-our-families","tag-our-new-app","tag-passion","tag-past-players","tag-payers","tag-person","tag-players","tag-rugby-league-hall","tag-samoa-posts","tag-scenes","tag-sky-sports-radio","tag-social-media","tag-some-jillaroos-players","tag-some-players","tag-sports","tag-stars","tag-sunday","tag-sung-veteran-rugby-league-broadcaster-peter-zorba-peters","tag-sydney","tag-tears","tag-that-anthem","tag-the-emotions","tag-the-anthem","tag-the-anthem-one-clip","tag-the-aussie-jersey","tag-the-best-player","tag-the-broncos-fullback","tag-the-crowd","tag-the-day","tag-the-field","tag-the-first-time","tag-the-game","tag-the-green-and-gold","tag-the-hell","tag-the-jillaroos","tag-the-king","tag-the-kiwis","tag-the-letter","tag-the-men","tag-the-national-anthem","tag-the-occasion","tag-the-official-jillaroos-page","tag-the-official-rugby-league-world-cup-page","tag-the-poms","tag-the-pre-game-moment","tag-the-proudest-moments","tag-the-rugby-league-world-cup-opener","tag-the-samoans","tag-the-sight","tag-the-silent-players","tag-the-sport-an-emotional-reece-walsh","tag-the-stands","tag-the-stomach","tag-the-target","tag-the-team","tag-the-tongans","tag-the-veteran-media-figure","tag-the-week","tag-the-women","tag-the-world-cup","tag-their-heart","tag-their-anthem","tag-their-chin","tag-their-individual-choice","tag-their-lips","tag-their-mouths","tag-this-point","tag-this-weekend-the-clip","tag-those-ones","tag-thursday","tag-training","tag-trolls","tag-ugly-national-anthem-storm","tag-walsh","tag-weekend-hosts","tag-your-country","tag-your-emotions","tag-your-room"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/932663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=932663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/932663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/932664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=932663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=932663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=932663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}