Kangaroos deserve better than this absurd anthem reaction

Comment: It’s as absurd as it is predictable.

Every time the Kangaroos represent Australia in a rugby league game players are chastised for not belting out the national anthem with the same passion as players from the Pacific Island nations.

While these players shed blood in green and gold, wearing the coat of arms on their chest, hundreds of trolls feel comfortable hurling slurs from behind a keyboard for the way they conduct themselves when Advance Australia Fair is played.

There are layers to this.

For a start, Australia’s national anthem is controversial. How can we expect 19 players from a range of cultural backgrounds to stand united in their response to an anthem that was written in 1878 with a strong celebratory nod to colonialism?

The words “young and free” were changed only five years ago to “one and free” in recognition that Australia has 65,000 years of Indigenous history. Young? Hardly.

But that small tweak has appeased very few of the Australians who want Advance Australia Fair to be dumped completely in favour of an anthem that is more reflective of the multicultural nation we’ve become.

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You don’t have to agree with the movement to change the national anthem to understand the sense of grievance behind it.

On the flip side, there’s no shame in feeling a sense of pride when the national anthem is played and singing your heart out or shedding a tear. No one should tell a Kangaroos player or anyone else how to feel or act in that moment - the way each individual expresses national pride is deeply personal.

Not loving a song that represents your country is very different to not loving your country. But that’s a distinction that seems to have been missed by the trolls.

What they should be judging Kangaroos players on is their body on the line efforts to stop 100-kilo freight trains breaking through their tackles.

Their clash with New Zealand on Thursday night was one of the greatest World Cup wins imaginable. The Kiwis were dominant in just about every area of the field that matters, yet the players wearing Australian jerseys hung tough, turned their opponents away time and time again and came up with the winning plays when fatigue was coursing through their veins in the dying minutes.

If you didn’t feel pride watching these players representing you in the green and gold, it might be worth a look in the mirror before you cast the next stone.