Melbourne Storm apologise to First Nations people for cancelled Welcome to Country ceremony

Melbourne Storm have issued a formal apology to First Nations communities over the last-minute cancellation of the NRL club’s Welcome to Country ceremony on Anzac Day this year.

The Storm said it had been in ongoing communication with members of the Wurundjeri community since April 25, when the ceremony that had been slated to take place before the match against the South Sydney Rabbitohs was pulled, causing distress among Indigenous communities.

The apology has not been enough for Indigenous rapper Adam Briggs, who rescinded his support for the Storm in 2023 over one of its directors donating to a prominent right-wing lobby group. Briggs said he could never see himself supporting the Storm ever again, as the club was yet to address Brett Ralph’s connection to Advance Australia.

“I wouldn’t feel welcome there,” he said.

In the days following the abrupt cancellation, the Storm took responsibility for what they said was an internal miscommunication.

It said the miscommunication stemmed from the board agreeing to reduce Welcome to Country ceremonies to “major cultural events” only, without defining what a major cultural event was.

On Anzac Day this year, Wurundjeri elder Aunty Joy Murphy had been scheduled to perform the ceremony. Performances from First Nations groups were also planned.

The Storm said on Monday that they would have an Acknowledgement of Country before Thursday night’s clash against the Brisbane Broncos, part of the NRL’s Indigenous Round.

“Melbourne Storm has been in ongoing communication with members of the Wurundjeri community following the events on Anzac Day and has apologised to the individuals, groups, and communities involved. The club extends that apology to First Nations and Maori and Pasifika communities impacted,” the Storm said in a statement.

“As we continue to engage with the local community regarding connection to the club and cultural protocols and out of respect for those involved, the club will recognise the traditional owners of the land through an Acknowledgement of Country on Thursday night for Indigenous Round.”

The cancellation of the ceremony at AAMI Park followed an incident at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance that morning, when far-right agitators had booed and heckled Bunurong elder Uncle Mark Brown’s Welcome to Country at the Anzac Day dawn service.

Three days later Murphy told ABC Radio Melbourne that Storm chief executive Justin Rodski initially told her the board’s decision not to include the Welcome to Country was partly because of the disruption at the Shrine, and they wanted to protect her.

But Murphy said she was not worried about booing, and the “thunderous applause” when the Welcome to Country was performed in front of a capacity crowd at the MCG for the Collingwood-Essendon AFL clash earlier on Anzac Day had lifted her spirits.

Murphy said she was not sure if she would work with the Storm again, although she told the ABC she wanted to meet with the board.

“My heart’s really broken so badly,” she said.

This masthead sought comment from Murphy on Monday afternoon.

In the aftermath of the incident, Storm chairman Matt Tripp said his club had to repair relationships with its Indigenous and First Nations supporter base.

“Like I do with anything within the club, I guard that with my life and I want to protect that at all costs,” Tripp said in April. “To have a miscommunication deem us as non-sensitive to Welcome to Country and beyond that, a part of Australian customs, that has upset me greatly.”

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