Johnathan Thurston praised the ARL Commission’s willingness to listen to Indigenous NRL players after it was confirmed the national anthem won’t be played at future All Stars events.
The ARLC made the permanent move to scrap the anthem from all rugby league events except Test matches, State of Origin and the grand final earlier this year.
The decision was made after consultation with senior members of the Indigenous playing group prior to the All Stars match on the Gold Coast in February.
On Wednesday the NRL confirmed to AAP the move to scrap the anthem from the match was a permanent one, which has drawn praise from one of the most respected Indigenous leaders in the game.
Thurston was at the announcement of the 2021 All Stars match which will be played in Townsville and said he is proud of the way a new generation of Indigenous players are speaking up to create social change.
“I’m extremely proud,” he said.
“We as rugby league players, it’s great that our voice can be heard for creating social change and we do a lot in the community education wise and employment wise.
“This is something that is close to the playing group’s heart.
“They are speaking on behalf of the Indigenous players that are in our game so to have their voice heard and have the commission listen to how they feel about certain issues is great.
“That’s what it’s all about, coming together to hear each other’s voice and making decisions on how we feel and what is best moving forward.”
It follows a headline-making moment over the weekend when the Wallabies sang the national anthem in a local Indigenous language prior to their Tri-Nations game against Argentina.
The NRL has trialled the idea previously too, with the anthem sung in an Indigenous language and English prior to an Indigenous round match back in 2018.
However, the conversation of a multilingual rendition of the anthem appeared to go quiet shortly afterwards and a debate over the validity of it at all in matches other than internationals has raged since.
In October the ARLC moved to scrap the anthem from Origin matches before backflipping under pressure from the public, as well as Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Meanwhile, the Indigenous All Stars v Maori All Stars match will be played in Townsville for the first time to mark the start of the 2021 season.
The NRL announced Queensland Country Bank Stadium would be the host venue for the annual game on February 20.
It’s expected to be the first full house at the new stadium after the grand opening NRL match in round one earlier this year was impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Full crowds were only able to return in Queensland from mid-November.
It will be the first major event at the new stadium, with the women’s Indigenous and Maori teams playing before the men’s game in a double header.