State of Origin 2019: Indigenous Australian players protest national anthem before opening match

Players from both sides had revealed before the contest that they would not be singing the national anthem, which includes the controversial line ‘young and free’

Latrell Mitchell, centre, stays silent alonside his New South Wales Blues team-mates (Getty)

Several Australian rugby league stars boycotted the country’s national anthem before the opening State of Origin game on Wednesday in protest against the song and its lyrics.

The annual series between the New South Wales Blues and Queensland Maroons is one of the most popular spectacles in Australian sport, and players of indigenous heritage from Australia, the Pacific Islands and New Zealand used the platform to take a stand.

NSW’s Cody Walker, Latrell Mitchell and Josh Addo-Carr and Queensland’s Will Chambers had revealed before the contest that they would not be singing the national anthem, which includes the controversial line “young and free”, lyrics that overlook the history of the indigenous community.

Team-mates showing solidarity included Josh Papalii, David Fifita and Kalyn Ponga for Queensland, and Payne Haas for NSW.

“The players involved say the words of the National Anthem are not inclusive of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples,” a spokeswoman for Reconciliation Australia said. “To say we are ‘young and free’ ignores the truth of indigenous longevity in this country.

Queensland Maroons during the State of Origin national anthem (Getty)

“Tonight’s game is a fierce sporting contest with a huge audience. Let’s not turn it into a spat about who should or shouldn’t sing the anthem. Sport is bigger than that. Australians are bigger than that.”

Their move has progressed the debate in Australia, with several politicians coming out in support of changing the lyrics.

Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek tweeted: “I love singing the national anthem, and I sing it with pride. But if we can make a small change to recognise our country’s incredible 60,000+ years of continuous culture, then let’s just do it.

“’Strong and free’ is one suggestion that’s been put forward, a small change like that is worth having a look at.”

Queensland won the first game of the best-of-three series 18-14 at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.