Melbourne Storm are under fire after being accused of cancelling a Welcome to Country at its Anzac Day NRL match at the last minute, leaving an Aboriginal elder “broken-hearted”.
Wurundjeri elder Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin said she was informed by the club on Friday afternoon that she was no longer required to address the crowd before the match at AAMI Park.
The Storm held its annual Anzac Day commemorations before the clash with South Sydney, kicking off at 8.10pm.
The cancellation came after several people interrupted the Welcome to Country at a Melbourne dawn service.
Murphy, who has performed the Welcome to Country at Melbourne events for many years, said the Storm then reversed its position, apologised, and asked her to continue with her ceremony as originally planned.
Two First Nations groups were also scheduled to perform, but after the confusion they all decided to cancel their performances.
“We were all just dumbfounded,” Aunty Joy told Nine. “We would dearly love to be out there, but they’ve broken our hearts.
“We want to rebuild our relationship. We want to make them [realise] that this was wrong, hurtful, deceitful and tokenistic.”
Kathleen Terrick, one of the dancers who were set to perform during the pre-match ceremony, backed the decision to cancel their show.
“When it comes to our elders, we are not going to stand by and let our elders be disrespected,” Terrick told ABC News.
The Storm later released a statement blaming a “miscommunication” for the cancellation.
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“There was a miscommunication of expectations regarding the use [of] Welcome to Country at Melbourne Storm events throughout the year,” the club said.
“We acknowledge and accept the timing and miscommunication was not ideal and we have spoken to the groups concerned this afternoon.”
Storm coach Craig Bellamy said after the game he “didn’t know anything about that”.
“That’s the first I’ve heard of that,” Bellamy said after the Storm beat Rabbitohs 24-16.
The pre-match Anzac Day ceremony, including the Welcome to Country, was performed without a hitch earlier in the day at the MCG as Collingwood faced Essendon in their traditional AFL clash.
