Melbourne Storm’s recent shock decision to overhaul the club’s pre-match Welcome to Country ceremonies has sparked strong reactions on social media.
The NRL heavyweights made the decision to scale back the ceremonies, confirming the news to the press Herald Sun on Sunday.
The club then took action on Sunday afternoon to clarify their decision, claiming they had not ‘set aside’ the ceremony but would review when it will be carried out.
“Melbourne Storm is not ‘abandoning’ its Welcome to Country of Acknowledgments as suggested by recent media,” the statement said. “We will continue these recognitions at culturally significant celebrations.”
‘The strength and success of our club is based on many cultures and communities, and our involvement with them has helped us reflect different views on how we can best support and represent each group.’
This year’s minor premiers added: “We will continue to engage with these communities and seek their input to find the most appropriate and respectful way to recognize and celebrate culture, including how we can best recognize First Nations people .
The NRL heavyweight’s recent announcement to overhaul the regular Welcome to Country ceremonies has sparked a social media storm
Melbourne Storm confirmed they will still hold the ceremony during the Indigenous Round
“The Club will continue to support First Nations community groups and organizations, as it has done for many years, and deliver programs and initiatives that promote positive outcomes in health, wellness and education.”
It is understood the club will still hold Welcome to Country ceremonies at culturally significant events, including the Indigenous round of the NRL.
The news sparked a huge response online, with many fans taking to social media to comment on the topic.
‘Good for the storm. End the divisive ceremonies,” said one X user.
‘Great success! Give the money saved to grassroots football clubs,” another replied.
‘Fantastic news. The world is waking up,” a third posted.
“About time, why should we be welcomed into our own country,” another asked.
Others were unhappy with the NRL powerhouse’s decision.
Brendan Kerin, a cultural educator with the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council in Sydney, issued a blunt Welcome to Country to the AFL, which he said was not for white people.
“Yet another reason not to renew my Storm membership,” one X user posted.
Indigenous rapper Briggs wrote: “Look, the cost of living means cultural recognition just isn’t feasible in this economy. There is a prize for cultural inclusion. Storm could do it if they wanted to; If anyone knows how to work with a salary cap, it’s them.’
He would later post another message on Facebook.
“Unsurprising and disappointing,” Briggs wrote. ‘What is your identity @Storm? I can worry less about pageantry, but the thin veil of respect has finally disappeared.
“We revealed a co-owner who donated $175,000 to the NO campaign. What is a welcome value when these are the people behind the club’s decisions and identity?’
The social media storm comes just weeks after the Juru people of North Queensland voted to ban Welcome to Country ceremonies on their land.
“The elderly have had enough,” said Randall Ross, a spokesperson on 4BC Mornings with Bill McDonald.
“It is being abused and they want to put an end to it.”
Some of the renewed attention to the ceremony is due to its prominence before major sporting events, and in particular the Giants versus Lions semi-final in Sydney in September, where Aboriginal elder Brendan Kerin said they were “not intended for white people’.
“It’s a ceremony we’ve been performing since 250,000 years before Christ – and BC stands for Before Cook,” he told the crowd, referring to Captain James Cook’s arrival in Australia in 1770, prior to European settlement.
Mr Kerin said the practice was not welcome in Australia, but that “within Australia we have many Aboriginal lands, and we call our lands ‘Country’, so it is always welcome in the lands where you have gathered.”
“Before colonization, walking on someone else’s land and not being welcomed onto that land could get you in a lot of trouble,” the Marrawarra man and Barkindji said.