A number of football players, some Aboriginal and some not, refused to sing Australia’s national anthem at the first game of the State of Origin rugby league series.

Indigenous rapper Briggs, who performed at Suncorp Stadium ahead of the game, went on to explain the boycott and why the Advance Australia Fair “sucks”.

During a segement on the The Weekly, he explained why the anthem was problematic.

Is our national anthem for everyone? Posted by The Weekly on Wednesday, 5 June 2019

“Advance Australia Fair has been the national anthem for 35 years, which white people think is a really long time,” Briggs began.

Running through each line of the anthem, Briggs took issue with: “For we are young and free”.

“Now, since all children in Northern Territory detention are Aboriginal and we are the most incarcerated people on Earth, we don’t feel particularly free. And as for young, we’ve been here for 80,000 years but I guess we don’t look a day over 60,000,” Briggs said.

Briggs also took issue with the wealth line in the anthem.

“We don’t see much of that wealth. Only one in 10 of us are financially secure,” he said.

Briggs then lashed the line that reads: “Our land abounds in nature’s gifts”.

“You see that just reminds us that our land was our land before our home was girt by you lot,” he said.

In the second verse, Briggs joked about the Southern Cross line, shouting “tattoos”.

“For those who’ve come across the seas,” the anthem goes.

“All of you,” Briggs cut in.

“We’ve boundless plains to share,” the anthem continued.

“Hold up there, sharing? We can’t even share our opinion about a song without the whole country freaking out so that’s when it’s played, some of us don’t feel like standing up or singing along,” Briggs said.

“The song sucks,” he ended.

media_camera The Blues stand together for the national anthem. Picture: Cameron Spencer

Two NSW players and one from Queensland confirmed they would be making a silent, respectful protest when Advance Australia Fair preceded the opening match in Brisbane.

The number of players who decided not to sing ended up being many more.

Debutant Cody Walker said the century-old song does not represent him or his family.

“I’m not pushing my view on anyone, it’s just how me and my family have grown up and how I feel,” Walker told reporters.

media_camera Cody Walker explained why he would not be singing the national anthem. Picture: Mark Metcalfe

Teammate Josh Addo-Carr plans to follow suit.

Queensland’s Will Chambers hoped their actions will bring wider attention to an anthem many consider does not reflect the country’s indigenous heritage.

“It doesn’t represent us,” said Chambers.

“If enough of us stand by and not sing, maybe one day there will be change and that’s all we can hope for.”

Reports said they had the support of teammates, coaches, and the National Rugby League.

Several players did not sing the anthem when the Australian indigenous All-Stars met the New Zealand Maori Kiwis in Melbourne this year.

The song was written in 1878 and became the official national anthem in 1984.

Its description of a “young and free” country rests uneasily with Aboriginal Australians who have inherited the world’s oldest continuous culture, but have struggled with centuries of oppression since European colonisation.