Ahead of the NRL’s Indigenous Round match tonight, a local senior Aboriginal elder said she will attend the game despite a previous issue not yet being resolved with the Melbourne Storm Rugby Club’s board.
For the Anzac Day Round, senior Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung elder Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin AO was invited by Melbourne Storm to the stadium to perform the Welcome to Country prior to the match.
She told ABC News in April that she received a phone call from the rugby club’s chief executive officer while she was on her way to AAMI Park, saying her Welcome to Country had been cancelled due to the booing that had occurred earlier that day.
In the early morning on Anzac Day, Bunurong and Gunditjmara elder Mark Brown was interrupted by a group of neo-Nazis while he was delivering a Welcome to Country at Melbourne’s Anzac Day dawn service at the Shrine of Remembrance.
Following the issue, the Melbourne Storm released a statement, stating that there was a clear misunderstanding between the board and management, which had caused confusion with the pre-game cultural ceremony, and apologising for it.
Melbourne Storm is playing against the Brisbane Broncos tonight for the Indigenous Round at their home pitch.
Aunty Joy released a statement prior to the match and said she will attend the Indigenous Round game to show support for the players, staff, communities and supporting fans, although she is disappointed that she has not been able to reach a resolution with the club’s board after the club’s decision to cancel the Welcome to Country ceremony on Anzac Day.
“This is about the board, not the game. This is about setting a standard not just for Melbourne Storm but across all sporting codes,” Aunty Joy said in the statement.
“I will always stand strong beside community and as a leader take responsibility to care for those who hurt badly.
“We value our long association with Storm and would like this to continue, but the association of a standing board member with Advance Australia means that we cannot safely undertake formal ceremonies.”
Djirri Djirri, a Wurundjeri female dance group, Ngā Mātai Pūrua, Te Hononga o Ngā Iwi and Te Ara Hononga, the Māori communities living across the Kulin Nations, clearly expressed their stance to stand alongside Aunty Joy, not engaging with the Melbourne Storm until the board announces meaningful changes.
