Why song and dance over the national anthem is a red flag for me

Opinion

October 31, 2026 — 5:00am

Look, when they do finally manage to hold an actual storm in a teacup, and we get to send an entry, the current kerfuffle over some of the Jillaroos not singing the Australian national anthem – while also being draped in the Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander flag – will be our best chance for gold.

Yup, ideally a national team would enthusiastically belt out the one anthem – one they all loved  – while also getting misty-eyed over the one flag, beloved by all.

But the simple truth is three-fold:

We Australians simply don’t have an anthem like that. Some love Girt, true. But for a huge swath of the population, no doubt including many Jillaroos, it’s a lot on the “meh” side of things. (Our anthem should be I Am, You Are, We Are Australian, but don’t get me started.)

Many, including your correspondent, don’t like our flag. In the words of no less than former Prime Minister Paul Keating, “No great country has the flag of another country in the corner of their flag”.

Not unreasonably, visiting comedian Jerry Seinfeld once said it looks like “Great Britain at night”. As it happens, I feel both things, strongly. And if I was of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Island heritage, I’d likely feel it more strongly still – to the point where it might even feel like a flag of British occupation and invasion. Who the hell are the rest of us to say they shouldn’t feel like that? If they do, so be it.

One thing we can and should be misty-eyed about is that we live in a country where our patriotism is not forced. It is not one size fits all, and we are mostly free to be. The Jillaroos in question have earned the right to wear the national jersey, and expressing themselves in this manner is emblematic of coming from a nation where freedom is more than an arcane concept. Live, and let live.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. Fire at will, see if I care.

Saving best until last

“It has been 24 years since Australia won the Bledisloe Cup,” Barry Wooldridge of Harden wrote in a letter to the editor of the SMH last week. “I turn 86 this week. Should I be getting anxious?”

Sir, I write back on behalf of Australian rugby. No, you need not be anxious. All will be fine in your lifetime. Against that, we ask that you get plenty of exercise, eat healthily, and get regular checkups. Remember to “Look left and right, and left again” before crossing the road, and don’t ever ignore any odd aches or pains.

See your doctor if pain persists, and believe in the Wallabies.

(Incidentally, when I recounted the above to my former sports editor, Ian Fuge, he told me one of his own favourite tales on the subject of getting older in the sports world. A few years back, he mentioned to the great SMH racing writer Max Presnell that he wanted to have a meeting to organise coverage of the following year’s Melbourne Cup. “Next year’s Melbourne Cup?” Max snorted. “Son, at my age I don’t even buy frozen peas.”)

These Wallabies are already winners

TFF was pleased to attend the Australian Rugby Awards on Thursday evening at the Ivy ballroom, where we did a little light palling around with some current Wallabies, all of whom were in da house before heading off to northern climes for their spring tour. Their first Test is against England at Twickenham next Sunday, and the obvious hope is that we will see the team that was so magnificent against the Springboks earlier in the month – and not the one that struggled against the All Blacks at Eden Park and in Sydney.

Either way, one precondition for them continuing their climb, in a year when they at last had six Tests without a defeat, has been met. They are a fine bunch of men. There have been times over the last decades when I sensed that various generations of Wallabies were straying into the too-cool-for-school territory, distant professionals with little connection to the rugby heartland. This mob is not like that. They come across as humble, hard-working and completely committed to climbing the mountain that lies ahead as they build to next year’s home World Cup.

And yes, it really is a huge pity that Mark Nawaqanitawase is not with them. After my rant last week about how underwhelming his existential angst over which country he’d like to play for in the World Cup was, I was expecting a reaction. And I got one – but all of it was in full agreement, including among the Wallabies themselves.

You’re either desperate to pull the jersey on and play your heart out – see Harry Wilson, Fraser McReight and Dylan Pietsch as notable examples – or you’re simply not the bloke we’re looking for.

NFL’s sickening stat

The most staggering news of the week came out of the USA, with a credible report emerging that no less than 75 per cent of former NFL players who died between 2008 and 2023 had CTE, the neurodegenerative brain disease tied to collision sports.

I repeat: 75 per cent!

I have recounted many times the story of the neurosurgeon I once sat next to years ago, who predicted that NFL would soon be banned or fade out of existence on the grounds that “you simply can’t run a business where a third of your employees get brain-damaged”. But it appears he was wrong on two counts.

For one thing the figure, as more research emerges, is clearly a lot higher than a third. And for another, to my eyes the NFL looks bigger than ever before, regardless of such devastating stats.

It feels like both the players and the fans have made a Faustian pact: we know that the severe damage done by playing and supporting this game is all but unavoidable, but we just don’t care.

The financial rewards for the players are too overwhelming to resist, while the entertainment value is in the here and now – someone else can deal with the brain fallout decades onwards, while I’ll have a new generation of future CTE victims to cheer.

What they said

Michael Clarke on a previous incident in his life, wins this week’s Michael Clarke Award for Michael Clarkeing: “Oh my god. In the middle of Bondi, there’s a van that’s got a plumber sign on it. That must mean Michael Clarke flushed a ring down a toilet. What a story.”

Colin Kaepernick 10 years on from taking a knee: “I would absolutely do it again.”

NFL coach turned pundit Mike Tomlin: “I don’t bet against defences with nicknames.”

Boston Celtic Jayson Tatum on his supposed beef with former teammate Jaylen Brown: “I’ve seen all these things about ‘Get your popcorn ready when they play’. Like, this ain’t no f---ing boxing match, it’s basketball. I hate the conversation, the narrative around it. There’s not enough communication, and a conversation will solve or put out a lot of fires.”

Jaylen Brown: “We both got so much stuff in front of us, so at the end of the day, he gotta do what he’s got to do for his team. I gotta do what I do for my team … There’s no beef, but it’ll be a little lamb chop.”

Max Verstappen on Kimi Antonelli’s inevitable Formula One World title: “He knows what he’s doing, so he just needs to try and win the race. If [the title] doesn’t happen here, it will happen next weekend. If it doesn’t happen next weekend, it will happen the weekend after.”

Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets, after they came back from 23 points down against the New Orleans Pelicans to win by six points: “We got booed at our first home game, and I think those fans who booed us, they don’t need to come any more. If you guys follow us, you know that we never quit and we’ve come back from much worse situations. So, if they ask me, they are not welcome any more.”

Cincinnati Bengal Ja’Marr Chase on a passionate halftime speech that turned a deficit into a big win: “I’ve done it before, and I cried last time. But I didn’t cry this time.”

Ethan Strange on being called up to the Kangaroos while on holiday in Thailand with his partner: “I still got to spend about six or seven days there. There was no refund for the second week, but I get to play for Australia, which is cool. I can always go back to Thailand.” The Kangaroos are playing at the moment? Who knew?

George Bailey on picking Nic Maddinson: “I think performance-wise … would you like more runs in it? Yes. So that’s OK.”

Professional sports bettor Mike Manning: “You’re exploiting the losing bettor, you’re taking advantage of them, and guys like me get shown the door.”

World Series Baseball MVP William Contreras: “I don’t want to offend any of the other catchers in the league. The last thing I want to do is offend any of them. But sitting up here today, champion of the world, I feel like I’m the best catcher in the league. Again, that’s no disrespect to any of them. That’s the last thing I want to do. But today I feel like I’m the best catcher in the world.” Yes, I think you mentioned that?

Daniel Ricciardo on the pitfalls of being a professional athlete: “You’re like, ‘OK, what am I doing with my life?’, and you feel like a failure, honestly. It’s very confronting when you look yourself in the mirror and you’re like, ‘I’m a failure’. I’ve achieved absolutely nothing this week and days have just ticked by and it’s like what am I doing with my life? I’m 30-something. But I did so much, there’s still so much more to do and to live.”

Team of the week

Wallabies. Play England at Twickenham next Sunday. On Thursday evening, Fraser McReight was awarded the John Eales Medal, as the best player in the Australian game, as voted by his peers.

Romano Floriani Mussolini. The great-grandson of former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini scored his first goal for Lazio. He has no interest in politics.

Kangaroos. Play the Cook Islands – no, really – at Townsville today. Or maybe it’s tonight. Or tomorrow. Good luck to them in any case.

Molly Picklum. The Australian is leading the World Surf League standings.

Melbourne Cup. Yeah, nah. Nup to the Cup.

Kimi Antonelli. About to become F1 World Champion, if anyone cares. Is it me, or has Formula One lost some cachet in recent years? The whole thing just no longer feels like the truly Big Deal it once was? Ok, maybe just me.

Peter FitzSimons is a journalist and columnist with The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X.

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