Melbourne Storm announces plans to reduce Welcome to Country ceremonies
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NRL powerhouse Melbourne Storm has decided to scale back the club's 'Welcome to Country' ceremonies as debate continues to swirl about the controversial tradition. The Storm has privately confirmed it will be ditching regular Welcome to Country ceremonies throughout the season, News Corp reports.
![[The prominent footy club will continue with the ceremony for the NRL’s Indigenous round]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/15/04/93161553-0-image-a-15_1734236136050.jpg)
The club said 'we're really keen to let our actions (rather than words) reflect what we stand for as a club in the community'. The ceremony has been dropped since late in the 2024 NRL season, but the club has indicated this is now an official call. It will however continue with the ceremony during the NRL’s Indigenous round.
![[Brendan Kerin, a cultural educator with Sydney 's Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council, gave a blunt Welcome to Country at the AFL which he said was not for white people]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/15/04/93161675-0-image-a-20_1734236518316.jpg)
Welcome to Country ceremonies have been at the forefront of cultural debate in Australia more than a year on from the Voice referendum. Some of the renewed attention is courtesy of its prominence before large sporting events, and particularly the Giants versus Lions semifinal in Sydney in September where Aboriginal Elder Brendan Kerin said they 'weren't to cater for white people'.
![[The Storm say they are 'really keen to let our actions (rather than words) reflect what we stand for as a club in the community']](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/15/04/93161563-0-image-a-17_1734236147569.jpg)
Melbourne Storm will scrap regular Welcome to Country ceremonies from now on. The prominent footy club will continue with the ceremony for the NRL’s Indigenous round. 'It's a ceremony we've been doing for 250,000 years BC - and the BC stands for Before Cook,' he told the crowd, referring to Captain James Cook's arrival in Australia in 1770 ahead of European settlement.
![[Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country ceremonies have been a hot topic for councils around the country]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/15/04/93161549-0-image-a-18_1734236150996.jpg)
