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 \u201csick in the stomach\u201d and Manly cult figure Peter Peters labelling it a \u201cdisgrace\u201d, calling for any player who doesn\u2019t sing to be banned from representing the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t you hate it when players, men and women, don\u2019t sing the national anthem,\u201d Peters said.<\/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 players 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
He continued: \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. I know what Malcolm Reilly (English legend) would have done to the Poms. Put one right on their chin.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Tears flowed repeatedly as those nations\u2019 stars belted out their national anthems in deeply moving scenes.\u2003<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
However, Munster said the narrative that Australian players aren\u2019t as proud to wear the green and gold as the Pacific Island nations is well off the mark. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe talk about culture and other nations, but we\u2019re very proud to wear the green and gold,\u201d Munster told Triple M after Thursday night\u2019s win over the Kiwis. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something that we pride ourselves on.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve obviously got a lot of cultures around the game. Big cultures like Tonga, Samoa, Kiwis, PNG, Lebanon. But we probably don\u2019t get spoken about enough \u2013 the Aussies \u2013 when it comes to culture. We\u2019re really proud of our green and gold and really excited to wear it tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Walsh revealed post-game his tears were because his parents \u2013 of Maori and Indigenous descent \u2013 could see him pull on the green and gold.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven thinking about it now, just thinking of my old man, my mum and dad, and having my family there,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the first time that they\u2019re watching me put on the Aussie jersey.<\/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. 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\u2019s probably one of the proudest moments for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
You can watch that footage at the top of the page. <\/p>\n
Australia won that Ashes series 2\u20131 against Great Britain, and back then nobody seemed to bat an eyelid that certain players didn\u2019t sing.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
But in the last decade it has suddenly become a big talking point when a star doesn\u2019t sing.<\/p>\n
After Payne Haas, Kotoni Staggs, Selwyn Cobbo and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow didn\u2019t 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. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve grown up with certain values, certainly with their families and those values have got to be respected,\u201d Meninga said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s up to the individual. I personally sing the national anthem because I\u2019m a proud Australian.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt that they\u2019re not less passionate Australians, they\u2019re not less passionate people that want to put the green and gold jersey on… they\u2019ve just got a value set that\u2019s different and I think that needs to be recognised and acknowledged.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yet many Australians remain angered by the fact that many in the current Kangaroos squad don\u2019t sing the anthem. <\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Others have also said the players are \u2018in the zone\u2019 in the moments before the game begins and focused on the game rather than the anthem that is blaring out.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
The Kiwis were dominant throughout, but the heart of the Kangaroos shone through as they kept turning up for their mates and hung tough. <\/p>\n
That\u2019s what it means to be Australian and to play with pride, so is singing or not singing the national anthem really what matters?<\/p>\n