The final decision rests with the ARL Commission but Ryan James says it’s pretty obvious indigenous players don’t want Australia’s national anthem played at next year’s NRL All Stars match.
The Gold Coast captain is hoping to make his playing return from the ACL injury which wrecked his 2019 campaign in the All Stars clash at CBUS Super Stadium in February.
A News Corp Australia report on Wednesday said the Australian Rugby League Indigenous Council is expected to present a submission to the commission requesting Advance Australia Fair not feature at the 2020 game.
James said it is a position the team had discussed at length before this year’s All Stars match in Melbourne.
“We sat down and talked about it … it’s something that just doesn’t represent us or what we do,” James said.
“It’s genuinely up to the commission now. We can just stand there silently in protest but it’s up to the commission to see what they do.
“They know where we stand as a team and as players and as indigenous people.
“Ultimately it’s their decision and it’s up to them.”
Several indigenous players including Latrell Mitchell, Josh Addo-Carr and Cody Walker opted not to sing the anthem at major matches during the year, including the State of Origin series.
James, a Bundjalung man from the northern NSW region, said reasons for feeling the anthem was unrepresentative of indigenous people and culture varied from player to player.
“You’ve only got to look back to when my mum was born,” he said.
“She was born indigenous to this land and she wasn’t even born recognised as a person.
“That’s not that long ago, mum was born in 1960.
“We’ve definitely come a long way since then but some of those words just don’t connect to us as people and we don’t stand for it.”